Chapter 12: Freedom and farewells
This is it. After so long out of Fanfiction, The final chapter which defines the Big Four: The Golden Army. There will be laughter. Sadness. Heroism! ..Oh, sorry? Just tell the story already, why don't I? Here it is!
Thirty minutes after the fall of Pitch Black, the group of heroes finally left behind the caverns of Bethmoora. Despite the subdued mood of the heroes(they had to kill a father, for crying out loud!), they couldn't help but see a lighter side to things. As they walked back through the chambers, the dark interior of the Golden Army's forging place didn't seem so dark, nor the air so icy, and when they met the Goblin Blacksmith again, he looked as though he might jump out of his cart if he still had legs attached.
"So the Golden Army has finally been downed!" he cried with joy. "At last, the curse of my people is undone! Follow me, heroes. I've got a feeling things will be much different around here."
And as they reached the doorway of broken stone, which slid open before them, there was a large crowd of BPRD agents gathered outside. Manning was giving a live report to the crowd, and judging by the expression on his face when he turned to see Hellboy, he was still sore about their unauthorized leave of absence.
"You! You took that plane without permission, young man!" he snapped vividly. "Do you have any idea how much red tape I'll have to cut through once this story makes the headlines?"
"Glad to see you too, Manning," Hellboy replied with a sarcastic grin. "You're here to help, as always. Which means I don't need to feel so guilty about doing this."
He removed his munitions belt and his guns before walking over to the director and slapping them into his hands.
Manning looked like he'd been slapped in the face- he certainly had been on multiple occasions- and looked incredulously at what his hands now contained. "What- what does this mean?" he stuttered. "What are you doing?"
"Ain't it obvious?" Hellboy jibed. "I'm quitting the BPRD. I've had enough hiding from people and taking orders from you. Time for me to live life on my own terms."
As he walked off, Manning squeaked "What? Are you serious?"
"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Liz added, giving Manning her own belt and guns.
"What's wrong with you?" Manning indignantly whined. "You can't all just quit!"
"Watch us, Manning," Abe replied as he returned his own supplies accompanied with a patronizing cheek-pat.
"And anyway, so what if we are?" Jack asked, as he walked over to return his own standard issue BPRD bullet-proof vest and weapons. "You've never liked working with Hellboy anyway, Tom. You hate this job, trying to hide the "freaks" and "monsters" from the public eye."
"But it's the only job I've got!" Manning whimpered, as he was slowly buried under an increasing pile of clothing and guns supplied by Rapunzel, Eugene, Astrid and Hiccup.
"Sae get a new one, ye big bald daftie," Merida replied, dropping her heavy-duty rifle-bow into Manning's arms with such weight that he collapsed to the ground. Hellboy then walked back to Manning and picked up the Samaritan.
"On second thoughts," he said, "I think I'll keep this. No need to get up."
Manning did get up, though, unceremoniously dropping the guns and clothes he was now carrying. "Johann, they can't do this! Stop them!"
Dr. Krauss glared at him from behind his glassy helmet. "Dr. Manning, you are a bureaucrat, a sycophant and an annoyance. Kiss my ectoplasmic backside!" And he did something surprisingly unorthodox and displayed the back of his finger before walking off to join the rest of the group.
"Why, Mr. Krauss!" Rapunzel remarked in faux outrage. "I didn't know you could be that vulgar!"
"I learnt it from ze best, your Highness," Krauss replied. "It turns out vot I needed vas a bit more of…all zis." He pointed at all the Big Four.
"You just pointed at all of us," Jack said quietly, in respect of Hiccup's own catchphrase.
"Vell, most of you. Not Rapunzel, she cannot insult anyvone to save a life."
"But all of you, Rapunzel included, are worthy of respect, children," an old, powerful voice spoke in Gaelic to the group. Hiccup turned first, and his mouth widened in surprise at what he saw.
A few feet away from the BPRD group, there stood a small procession of Bethmooran Elves dressed in red, accompanied by a crowd of Butcher Guards, Peistes, and with two gigantic people at the back. One was La Muerte. The other was a huge orange man with curly white hair and a large beard. The Candle-Maker. At the head of the procession strode King Balor Silverarm.
"Father," Nuala respectfully bowed her head.
Balor smiled graciously, before separating from the rest of the procession to join the small company. "I've heard a lot about you, the fabled Big Four." Merida didn't dare whisper translations for her friends, but instead Nuala spoke telepathically to them. "Jack Frost, the bringer of winter, you have honoured us by choosing to fight the Nightmare King not once but twice now. Rapunzel, healer of Corona, you saved both my children's lives, even at the risk of losing your own. And you, my dearest Merida, and prince Hiccup…"
He walked over to the Scot and the Viking, his honey-yellow eyes creased with cheer. "I thank you both, for your actions on the behalf of Bethmoora and all mankind. For now the Golden Army cannot be used again, and we need live no longer in the shadow of Pitch's fear!"
Hiccup did not object to the warm hug the Elven King pulled him and Merida both into. He smelt of fresh herbs and bay leaves, and even the cold metal of his silver arm didn't get through to Hiccup's skin.
As Balor released them, Merida looked slightly teary. It had only been a few days since the last time she'd seen King Balor, and meeting the old Elf again brought back so many happy memories.
Toothless and Stormfly were busy sniffing the Butcher Guards, who, surprisingly enough, were very gentle towards dragons, nuzzling their scaled heads with beaked helmets.
"It's good to see you again, Father," Nuala said. "We have all been heroes today, even Nuada…" she caught herself abruptly, turning to look at her brother. Nuada's expression seemed somewhat downcast.
"Thank you for reminding me, dearest Nuala," Balor replied, before walking over to his son. Nuada looked like he might melt with guilt on the spot. The silver hand laid on his shoulder was gentle yet firm, like the voice of its owner.
"You proved to ultimately change your fate, my son," Balor said. "You ultimately realized the Nightmare King's treachery and chose to destroy the Army. But that does not change the fact that it was you who set out to raise the Army in the first place, blinded by your hatred of mankind. For this, you must do penance."
"I- I understand, Father," Nuada responded, placing his own hand on his shoulder. "I will gladly accept imprisonment for my crimes. It is no less than I deserve."
At that point, Dr. Krauss interrupted. "Viz all due respect, mein Kaiser, perhaps it vould be best if ze Prince Nuada takes up vork viz ze BPRD. I don't doubt zat he might know of ozzer Elven clans hiding in ze vorld. Togezzer, we can eliminate evil and bring balance and nature and beauty back into our lives. How does zat sound?"
"I think it's a good idea, Dr. Krauss," King Balor said with a smile.
Merida's jaw dropped. "Whit the- he just- ye can speak English?" she looked incredulously at King Balor.
"Of course I can, Merida," the Elven King replied nonchalantly. "I just prefer not to. Now, as you were, Nuada… are you ready to begin your penance?"
Nuada nodded graciously, then turned to walk over to Manning and the BPRD crowd.
"Wait!" Merida called. She ran over to the Elf prince until they were evenly lined up, then sharply pinched Nuada's ear(mentally apologizing to Nuala as she did so).
"Ow!" Nuada cried as she released her grip. "What was that for?"
"That was fer tryin' tae kill us, ye great haggis-brained nump!" Merida growled, before then grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him in. "An' this… is fer helpin' us."
And Merida pressed her lips onto Nuada's white cheek with surprising tenderness. A lot of the group watched this in surprise: Toothless' mouth dropped open in a, well, toothless gape, Sandy made a question mark above his hand and rubbed the Dreamsand out of his eyes, while Rapunzel giggled quietly at the sight. On her shoulder, a small Tooth Fairy(the Black Forest kind, one of the few to survive the battle of the Causeway) tentatively leaned over to kiss Pascal's cheek, but the unimpressed chameleon simply punched him in the face(where have I seen that before? Jack thought).
Even Nuada himself had turned red at Merida's kiss(which, in combination with his natural white coloration, made him look like a pink flower). He smiled a little awkwardly as Merida pulled away.
"Good luck wi' yer new job, Nuada," Merida grinned, with a gentle shoulder punch.
The two of them laughed heartily as Nuada walked off to join the BPRD, while Merida walked back over to the group. Hellboy had an annoyingly knowing look on his big red face.
"Well, well," he drawled. "See you've found yourself a new flame, huh, Ginger? Didn't think he was your type."
"Kindly shut yer drivellin' trap, Red," Merida curtly responded, her own face threatening to turn crimson.
"Or what?" Hellboy continued his jibe. "Merida and Nuada sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Merida dropped her bow and ran at the demon. "I'LL FLAMIN' WELL KILL YE, YE CHEEKY BIG IMP!" she screamed in mock fury, only to be restrained by the stern arms of Astrid Hofferson.
"Wrong time, Merida," Astrid warned. "You can't win this fight."
"Yeah, go on and protect him, fine by me," Hiccup teased. "By the way, Milady, Red here was just telling me to thank you for teaching him how to make Yaknog!"
Astrid's eyes widened in shock. "But I never taught…He ripped off my recipe?" at once she turned red as well, and started struggling forwards. "LET ME GO! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"
"I'M KILLIN' HIM FIRST, VIKING LASS! GET BACK!" Merida snarled back, both girls trying to run forwards and stop one another running forwards at the same time.
Jack and Hiccup laughed soundly at the sight of this. "Ah, I've missed this," the one-legged Viking sighed.
"Me too, Hicc, me too," Hellboy added. He then turned to face the two smiling Mexican gods who stood out among the crowd. "So…I'm guessing you're La Muerte, huh? And the Candle Maker?"
"Uh huh!" the big yellow god agreed enthusiastically in his deep, upbeat voice. "We were watchin' over you that whole fight, kids. And I gotta admit, that…was completely SHA-BOOM-TASTIC!"
"Indeed," La Muerte followed up. "We saw how you fought, heroes, and we approved of it all. Hellboy, that way you held your own with Nuada! Such daring enthusiasm! And that rendition of the Apology Song! Why, I haven't heard such enchanting tunes since dear Manolo first fought that bull in the arena!"
"It was so nailbitin', I nearly dropped my churros!" the Candle Maker butted in, then blushed and lowered his head. "Uh, sorry, ma'am."
"That's quite alright, Candelabro(Spanish for candelabra- yes, It's my name for the Candle Maker)," La Muerte replied, her smile gracious. "The point we are making is, we are honoured to have met such brave and unique heroes. And such great deeds must be rewarded, no?"
Hiccup nearly dropped his sword. "You're going to bless us?"
La Muerte laughed, a sweet, lilting sound. "Not us, mi hijos. The Candle Maker and I simply bear the gifts to you. But it is the Tuatha de Dannan- sorry, the Celtic gods, your gods, Merida, and Nuada's too, I should say, who have given us the gifts. For today is a day of triumph over evil and chaos, and you have earned the right to relax a little. First, I will bless you, sweet Nuala…"
The black-haired underworld goddess walked over to Nuala, passing a hand under the Elf princess' chin in deep waves. She murmured a few words in Spanish- or an older language- and then straightened up to her impressive height of two meters.
"I… I don't feel any different," Nuala said cautiously, inspecting her hands.
"You shouldn't," La Muerte replied. "For all I have done is tamper with the Banna na Anamacha; now the bond between you and your brother is lessened, yet still remains. You can still read his thoughts, and he yours, but you will no longer share each other's pain."
"Wait, you mean….?" Abe began, his piscine eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes," the goddess confirmed. "Nuada and Nuala's lives are no longer connected to one another. A little fiddling on Dian Cecht's behalf, but partially due to Aonghus taking such an interest in your romance with dear Abraham."
"What?" Nuala turned to look at Abe. The piscine humanoid looked cowed.
"Forgive me, Nuala," he said. "I should have told you how I felt earlier, but I never had the right chance…"
Nuala reached out. "Give me your hand," she cut him off, and Abe placed his own webbed palm against hers. For a moment Nuala's golden eyes closed, as she combed his mind with her touch, and then they reopened, and her expression was deeply touched.
"It's beautiful," she whispered. And then Elf and Ichthyan leaned forwards and captured each other's lips in a tender grip.
A collective "aaaaaaawwwwww" swept across the group. All the resident couples reached for each other's hands(including Jack and Tooth).
La Muerte then left the new lovers to their embrace before walking over to Hellboy.
"To you, demon and hero," she said. "I can give little save this; a simple blessing from the Fomorians, and rare things those are too."
She reached out and touched his stone hand with her own fingers, lifting his arm; and as the Big Four watched in awe, a golden glow spread down Hellboy's arm, and the pieces of stone that comprised it began to fall off and drop to the ground with soft thuds. Hellboy's own expression turned from panic to surprise as his arm ceased to glow, now no longer a massive granite sledgehammer, but a normal human(or at least demon) arm of flesh and blood, the same size and shape as his left arm. It was so new to him to have two organic arms that he kept turning it, clenching and unclenching hands and fingers, and checking its joints.
"Um, La Muerte?" Jack asked. "I appreciate the cosmetic statement, but why does Hellboy have two normal arms now?"
"The answer is simple, Jack Frost," La Muerte replied. "Hellboy's right hand was the key to releasing the Ogdru Jahad, true? Well, now that he no longer has that stone hand, there is no key, and the Ogdru Jahad can never be set free. They will spend the rest of their monstrous lives imprisoned by the gods, unable to terrorise mankind again."
"How about that, then?" Bunny asked brightly, patting the big demon on the back. "What do you think, mate?"
"I dunno, Bunny," Hellboy replied, feeling a faint sense of loss for the weapon he had carried on his body for so long. "I might have to get used to it."
"Oh, I'm sure you vill," Dr. Krauss chirped from his strange glassy helmet. "I took far longer to get used to all zis." He pointed at his own strange gas-built body.
La Muerte turned to Jack and Rapunzel. "Son of winter and daughter of Corona, you already bear your gifts from the Tuatha; the frost of the Cailleach, and the healing touch of Lugh. So I hope you don't feel insulted if I choose not to reward you further."
"I'm fine with that," Rapunzel replied. "Any more special powers, and I think Jack's neck would snap under the weight of his gigantic head."
"Watch it, Punzie," Jack retorted, but only half-heartedly.
"In fact," the goddess continued, "It's only fair that Candelabro should give the rest of you your gifts, since it was his idea in the first place." She spoke the last part with thin sarcasm.
"Awesome! I'm havin' a go now!" the orange cloud-bearded god bustled over to Eugene's flank, his mouth spread in a Cheshire Cat grin. "Now you there… Flynn Rider, ain't it, sonny? I'm sure I got me some crowbars an' stashin' sacks on my person you can put to good use."
"Um, just so you know, I'm not a thief anymore," Eugene replied uncomfortably, not wanting to remember his former life as a selfish bandit.
"Ah, I'm just jokin' with ya, amigo!" the guardian of the Book of Life replied, nudging Eugene in the stomach with one waxy elbow. "I'm nothin' if I ain't a joker! Anyway, here's my first gift- a li'l blessin' from Nemglan, god of birds… Lemme just see…"
He blew a gust of cloud into Eugene's hair, sending it wild. Eugene tentatively opened one eye to look at his hand, making plucking motions as if to remove unwanted dirt.
"Ok, I'm not gonna turn into a bird or anything like that, am I?" the handsome former thief said, eliciting a few laughs from his friends.
"NAAAAAAH!" the big golden god over-elongated his "nah" before giving Eugene a friendly shoulder-bump. "Nemglan don't go around turnin' people into birds, man! He just gives people the most useful powers any bird could have. An' in your case, he gives ya the speed of the fastest bird alive, the Peregrine Falcon!"
"Wait, you mean I've got… super-speed?" Eugene asked, glancing over at his friends to check he'd heard right.
"Sure thing, buddy!" the Candle-Maker agreed. "I would explain why you're gonna need it later on…" he broke off, seeing La Muerte waving her hands and shaking her head at him. "Buuuuuut, showin' is tellin', an' the gods know it ain't my job to tell too much! Just for now, why doncha try it out?"
Eugene nodded eagerly, then started a healthy jog around the former BPRD agents. Or at least it was what he'd call a healthy jog, compared to all the frantic running around Corona he used to do, but to Hiccup, it was like watching a Speed Stinger chasing a rabbit- Eugene was a blur of footsteps and colour, accompanied by a little gust of wind as he ran circles around Hiccup three times, then came to an abrupt halt. Everyone had incredulous gaping mouths.
"Hah…You should see your faces," Eugene panted softly as he paused to take it in. "Because you guys look…" he broke off as a rough hand tapped him on the shoulder, then turned to face one of the Butcher Guards, its beak-shaped helmet poking into his face as it raised a huge sword over its head.
"R-r-ridiculous…" Eugene whimpered, before closing his eyes in fear. But instead of feeling a fatal blow, he felt something large and hard being slipped into his hands, then opened his eyes to see the Bethmooran warrior's huge rectangular sword in his grip.
"Ok, what was that for?" he asked, narrowly stopping himself from falling over beneath the weight of the sword.
"To keep a pin in your big ego, boy," the Butcher Guard replied, in a harsh croak of a voice(which was surprising to everyone, even Merida, who'd never heard a Butcher Guard speak in all the years she'd known the people of Bethmoora).
"Uh…thanks, I guess," the bearded prince replied, before slowly trying to tuck the big sword and its scabbard into his belt(it was like trying to carry half a ton of Rapunzel's frying pans).
Maximus (who had finally been allowed to leave behind the Guardian's Christmas car once he heard his friends returning from the cave) ran over eagerly to receive his own gift, along with little Pascal. (though ultimately, the only gift they received was a kiss on the head from Nuala, which made both of them turn red)
"And the final three, now," King Balor interrupted, walking over to Merida, his almost-granddaughter, and her two Viking friends, complete with dragons.
"For you, Merida, who hold a place in my heart matched only by my children," the Elven King spoke, "the Tuatha have given me direct permission to bless you myself."
"They have?" Merida asked, surprised by this, since Balor's own magic levels were still very low since his healing.
"Indeed," Balor agreed, reaching into his tunic to produce a small gold ring. "This is an heirloom of the Dagda himself, entrusted to me so that you may put its power to good use. Use it wisely…"
Nodding dumbly, Merida reached out towards the ring. Its surface was engraved with small images of bears and ravens, something which Merida suspected involved the hand of the woodcarver/witch, but what was more interesting was that, as she gently touched it, she could hear a faint chiming noise, almost like flutes on the wind. As Merida touched it, her whole spine(as she would put it later on) dramatically tensed up, and it felt as though her limbs were stiffening like stretched rope; then she relaxed again, and allowed the ring to slip onto her finger.
It was only then that she noticed Rapunzel, Hiccup and the rest staring at her in awe.
"Uh, do I have somethin'… on me face?" she asked tentatively.
"I wouldn't put it like that, Merida," Jack replied. "It's more like something on your arms…and your legs… and your whole body in general."
Merida querulously lifted one of her arms in front of her face, and gasped at what she saw before her. Where once Merida's arms were strong enough to lift her up the Crone's Tooth, but still slender enough to be unremarkable, now they were packed with enough muscle to lift a wolf off the ground by one hand. Her legs, by the feel of them, had become similarly strengthened, she could see a little higher from the ground, and when she rolled up her shirt around the stomach, she saw an impressive six-pack that was never there before. She was nowhere near as gigantic as her father, perhaps, or Young Macguffin, but Merida was definitely stronger than before.
"Yes," King Balor agreed. "The Dagda is the god of strength, young hero, and this is why he has seen fit to increase your own. Again, I am forbidden to say why."
"Well, me da will probably like it, an' sae do I," Merida murmured, flexing her arms repeatedly to check they were really this big. She glanced up at Nuala, and the Elf princess gave her friend a thumbs up from Abe's turquoise arms.
"Now, my young Vikings," Balor spoke, turning to Astrid and Hiccup. "I nearly forgot my gift to you. Here you are…"
And he unfurled his flesh-and-blood hand and took out three small leaves, the colour of Toothless' scales, before gently rubbing them across three brows- the young Vikings and the Night Fury. Hiccup caught a faint smell of gorgeous herbal odour as the leaves left his head.
"Ok, I could swear those aren't Berk leaves, or any leaves I'm familiar with," he said wryly.
"And you're right," King Balor agreed. "These are leaves from the gardens of the Dragon Gods, the patrons of all fire-breathers."
Hiccup felt giddy. "There are Dragon Gods?"
"You wouldn't believe how many, but yes. They have gifted you, young hero, for these herbs give those who touch them the power to assume the form of any dragon known to man, so that you may slowly come to understand them even better."
"So we're…what, Skin-changers now?" Astrid asked.
"You could call it that," was the Elf's reply.
"And what about Toothless?" Hiccup asked. "What will your power do for him?"
As if in response, Balor pointed to the black dragon's tail, which now sported two tail fins of midnight black, instead of the red canvas prosthetic which Hiccup had been accustomed to.
"He can fly again?" Hiccup was feeling the seeds of joy building in his stomach. "Toothless can fly again?"
"Well, I hope so!" Balor chortled. "You can't steer his tail fins while in the form of a dragon yourself, can you?"
Hiccup was so taken aback, he looked down at his left leg to check whether that, too, had grown back. But no such luck. It didn't really matter, Hiccup consoled himself. To him, this metal-and-wooden prosthetic was a sign of experience, and he didn't want everything to be too perfect for him. But then, if he could turn into a dragon, wouldn't his leg fall off just when he needed it?
"I assure you, Hiccup, there's no need to panic," a certain psychic piscine said, having moved back over to Hiccup's side with his new girlfriend. "My analysis suggests the prosthetic will change size and shape with your body in order to keep the balance. It can even become a part of your tail if the dragon you choose to become hasn't got legs."
"Did you just read my mind?" Hiccup asked.
Abe rolled his big eyes. "I don't even need to answer that, Hiccup."
Overcome by sheer joy at everything, Hiccup threw himself forwards to embrace Abe, ignoring the smell of wet fish and leather as all the cumulative emotions of fear and anger and grief and finally elation rushed through him. And to his credit, Abe didn't hold back either, even as he was gradually swamped with a further rush of arms from the rest of the heroes.
After a few moments' hectic hugging, Hiccup then broke away from the group to look at the big friendly demon for whom they were all brought together. "So, what happens now?"
"Pardon?"
"With you and Liz," Hiccup asked. "Now that you're no longer in the BPRD, what are you guys gonna do for a living? Come to think of it, where are you gonna live?"
"Well, remember what I said before?" Hellboy replied. "About you and me going to live together anywhere, Liz?"
The pyrokinetic nodded.
"Well, I'm thinking of visiting a place in the countryside," Hellboy continued. "Clean air, sheep in the distance, fresh green grass on the hills. And a yard with lots of room to grow in. I might even pop that special question. It'll be a great place for us to bring up the baby."
"Babies," Liz corrected.
Hiccup did a double take. "Did you just say…babies, Liz? Babies as in plural?"
"Yeah, I did," Liz agreed nonchalantly. "I should've told you guys earlier. I'm pregnant with twins."
"Oh, my gosh, Liz!" Rapunzel cried, bouncing over to pull her black-haired friend into a hug. "That's amazing!" She tried to mask some small tears of jealousy coursing down her cheeks.
"Oh, it is," North agreed in his jolly Russian accent. "Vone of zem is a boy, ze other vone is a girl."
Hellboy's yellow eyes widened. "How do you know this, North?"
The Guardian of Christmas chuckled gently. "Betveen you and me, Hellboy," he mock-whispered, "my eyes can see a lot more zan just vonder."
Merida and Nuala broke out into shamelessly snorty chortles at this point.
"But what about you guys?" Hellboy added, as soon as he had recovered from the awe of realising he'd have two babies instead of one. "The Guardians? Jack told me it's your life's work to defend the children of the world from the fear of Pitch. Now Pitch is dead, what are you gonna do?"
"Oh, some new enemy will most likely appear, mate," E. Aster Bunnymund replied very casually. "We Guardians have a lot more enemies than you might think. And so long as they're around, we'll protect the children of the world. And we'll keep giving them hope, and wonder, and dreams."
"And perhaps, as Pitch himself recommended," North continued, "ve should use zhe power of fear as something for children to learn from? Goodness knows ve could do vith a new Guardian of Fear…I hear zhat Jack Skellington in Halloween Town is up for the job."
"Speaking of which," Tooth turned to Jack. "Where do we go from here, Jack?"
"What are you talking about, Tooth?" Jack asked.
"Well, now that we've established our feelings, what are we gonna do about them?" the Guardian of Memories continued agitatedly. "I mean, I know you're a free spirit, you don't like to be tied down to anything, but I have a regular night-time job, seven continents, millions of kids… I don't know how I'd spare the time to get together with…"
Jack gently cut her off by pressing his pale lips over hers. "You worry too much, Tooth, babe," he chided softly, as he pulled back. "Relax. Learn to live a little. Besides, I'm a winter spirit. I hardly think I'll be too busy to miss out on a night out. What I'm basically saying is…" He got down on one knee and took Tooth's elegant hand. "Princess Toothiana, Guardian of Memory, I, Jackson Overland Frost, love you. Can I say something crazy? Will you go out with me?"
"Oh, Jack," Tooth sighed. Over her shoulder, Eugene sniggered behind one hand.
"He's being way too over-the-top with his proposal," the prince of Corona whispered to his wife.
"Sshh," Rapunzel gently elbowed him in the ribs.
"And then, sometime after that… will you marry me?" Jack looked up, his pure blue eyes wide with anticipation.
Tooth's lips parted in an overjoyed grin. "Can I say something even crazier? Yes!" And she swept Jack off the ground in a hug, peppering his face with kisses. The Guardians cheered loudly, North and the Yetis doing arm dances, Bunny shouting "I KNEW YOU HAD THE GUTS TO ASK HER, FROSTBITE!" and Sandy creating fireworks from his Dreamsand and letting them off.
Jack and Tooth smiled warmly at each other, ignorant to all else for a few moments. Then Jack quickly realized something and broke apart from Tooth.
"Well, congratulations, Merida!" he cheerfully remarked, flying over to shake hands with the Scottish princess. "Out of the four of us, you are now the only one who still hasn't got hitched! When are you gonna settle down?"
"Oh, stick yer nose out of me love life, Snowcap!" Merida retorted, shoving him backwards by his head. The rest of the Four had a good laugh at this point.
But then Hiccup looked up to see the Candle-Maker looking at them expectantly, and then he walked over to the huge golden figure.
"Hey, Candle-Maker," he asked curiously. "As glad as I am to see a friendly face, I feel like you didn't come here just to give us magic gifts. You have another reason for being here."
The Mexican god nodded seriously. "We came to tell y'all somethin'… You've done brilliant with the BPRD, Big Four. You've defeated the evil of Rasputin an' the Golden Army, an' you've changed the fate of our dear elf twins. But now you've completed your task in the modern world. It's time for y'all to return to your native time periods."
Hellboy overheard this and walked over, followed quickly by the rest of the BPRD (including Manning). "Hiccup. Is this true?" he had a confused expression. "You're leaving us?"
"Well, to be more precise, they are," the Candle-Maker replied, pointing to the groups of Merida, Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons, and Eugene, Rapunzel, and their pets. "But your friend Jackie boy ain't goin' anywhere. He was born in the ancient times, sure, but he's a spirit of the modern age now, just as much as the rest of the Guardians."
Hiccup sighed, then turned to face his four paranormal friends. "Hellboy, Liz, Abe, Dr. Krauss… you guys are some of the best friends we could ever hope to meet. But me, Merida, and Rapunzel- and all our other friends- we don't belong in this time period. We have other friends and family waiting for us back home, friends whom we've known not for five years, but for all our lives. And now, we need to go back to them. We've put off this reunion long enough."
Hellboy was quiet for a few moments, as though the full weight of what Hiccup was saying had yet to sink in on him, and then, the big demon stumbled forwards, his arms outstretched. Hiccup said nothing, he simply embraced his friend and both allowed themselves to weep. Minutes later, the rest of the group were similarly swamped; Eugene hugged Abe, Liz hugged Rapunzel, and Nuala hugged Merida.
Jack Frost didn't know he could cry himself up until then. Little white tears ran down his cheek as he pulled Astrid the shieldmaiden into his own arms. Even the legless Goblin Blacksmith clung to Toothless' upper shin in a surprisingly tender manner. Toothless looked mildly annoyed for a few seconds, then started licking him in response, until his sand-coated skin was now sticky with dragon spit.
Hellboy and Hiccup finally pulled apart, the red-skinned supernatural detective with a bittersweet smile. "When me and Liz have our kids, I'm naming our boy after you and Jack, Hiccup," he said. "The bravest, smartest Guardian and Viking I've ever known."
"Hey, thanks, bud," Hiccup replied with his humble smile.
Liz took longer to extricate herself from Rapunzel's arms, as she tearily whispered, "And I'll name our girl after you and Merida- the kindest, sweetest, most daring princesses ever."
Rapunzel's own eyes were like wet marbles by this point, imagining whether she'd feel like this if she and Eugene had their own baby.
Even the rest of the Guardians looked equally sad; North and his Yetis were unashamedly weeping into their handkerchiefs, Sandman had little rivulets disrupting the sand-like texture of his skin, and even Bunny didn't look as annoyingly cocky and aloof as Jack had known him to be.
"So, I guess this is the last time I'll see you guys, huh?" the Guardian of Fun himself said, walking over to his friends from the past. "I only wish we could've known each other for longer…"
"Hold that thought, white-haired boy," the Candle-Maker interrupted, "'cos I got some good news as well!"
And he then reached inside his robes and pulled out a handful of two metre-long glass staffs, filled with sand: the Sand-staves Jack and the Guardians had first used to travel to the 12th and 18th centuries and bring back Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel back to the modern age. But alongside these, he held a handful of small gold pendants, shaped like little clocks and attached to chains.
"Whoa," Jack murmured. "What are these little clocks?"
"Gifts from Father Time, li'l brother!" the Candle-Maker replied. "See, your journey with the BPRD is complete, children. But you've still got plenty of adventure-type things to do as the Big Four. So listen up, when the time is right for the young heroes four to reunite, then wind up those pendants, put 'em to the test, and you'll all meet up for a brand new quest!"
He finished his song with a neat flourish of his yellow arms, smiling poetically.
"So… if we want to meet Merida, Hiccup and Jack again, we use these pendants to travel to their own times?" Rapunzel asked. It was a lot to get her head around, but still worth knowing.
"That's about the size of it, yeah."
"OK… THAT'S GREAT!" Rapunzel squealed enthusiastically, as she bounced over to accept her own pendant and Sand-stave. Quickly afterwards, the rest of the Four each took their own pendants and staves. However, Merida was more hesitant, looking back over her shoulder to find her two favourite Elf siblings standing close behind her.
"It's not the last time you'll see us, you know, Merida," Nuala replied. "We Elves live for many centuries. You may well meet us again at some point when you go back home."
"An' what then?" Merida asked. "Th' Golden Army is still alive back in me own time. An' ye're still at war wi' the world, Nuada. Whit will I do when I meet ye again?"
"Find me," the Elf-Prince replied. "Teach my past self what you have taught me now- that not all humans are bad, that our land must be reclaimed by peaceful means. And if you find the Golden Army, destroy it, so that this can never happen again."
Merida nodded, then gasped as Nuada drew his silver lance and pressed it into her own palm. "Keep it, as a gift. I think you'll need it more than I will."
Merida chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. "Take care of yerself, Nuada."
"And you, Merida," he replied. "May we meet again, in the past."
Merida smiled, then kissed his cheek for a second time, ignoring a cheeky "OOOOOHHHHHH!" from a certain white-haired boy, before giving Nuala a hug. As they moved back, Merida then thoughtfully slipped Nuada's lance back into her quiver, admiring its weight and balance.
"I'm more used tae fightin' wi' a sword than a lance, but it seems guid," she remarked.
Just then, Hiccup noticed that although both he, his girlfriend and his four new friends now held both a magic pendant and a Sand-stave, the Candle-Maker still had two to hand( their animal friends just wore their pendants around their necks).
"Uh, should I be wondering who that last pair of magic items are for?" he asked, only to then hear heavy footsteps behind him.
"They are for me, little Viking," growled the deep voice of Mr. Wink. The gigantic Cave Troll, despite his many scars and horrific twisted eye, looked more cheerful than Hiccup had ever seen him, as he lightly took the golden talisman and the glass staff in his huge mismatched hands. "I'm coming back to Berk with you."
Hiccup did a double take. "I beg your pardon?"
"I'm coming back to your home," the Troll replied. "For I no longer wish to hide from mankind, Viking. I will return to your village, and show that they do not have to live in fear of us, and then perhaps mankind will learn to live with the rest of our kind. Just like your people live alongside the dragons, ya?"
Most people would refuse the opportunity to take a giant troll home with them, but Hiccup was not most people. So he said, "Sure. Welcome to the family, brother Wink!"
The big Troll laughed, a deep, liquid sound, then walked over to stand behind the Berk group, placing a heavy arm over Astrid and Hiccup's shoulders. Hiccup nearly collapsed under the weight of the massive metal prosthetic, but then straightened himself again. He looked outwards, to face his new friends, and smiled sadly as he took everything in; Hellboy and Liz tenderly holding hands, Abe and Nuala outstretching their own to wave, and the Guardians all grouped together with expressions that weren't as sad.
"Goodbye, Hiccup," Hellboy called croakily. "Send us back a souvenir."
"Sure thing, big guy," Hiccup replied. "Jack, next time we meet, tell us what the babies look like!"
"Whoa, Hiccup, I'm taking my thing with Tooth slow, thanks," Jack replied, earning him an elbow to the stomach from his girlfriend in question.
"I meant Hellboy and Liz' babies, Jack," Hiccup jibed.
"Oh, sorry," Jack blushed, which made his pale face look almost like normal complexion.
La Muerte and the Candle-Maker then walked over like flight instructors, the latter grinning eagerly.
"Ok, we all ready to go?" he said. "Then here's a recap. First, each of you form a circle (except you, Merida, you're ridin' this thing solo). Then, shake your Staves until the sand starts swirlin' like wild."
Hiccup took his own Stave and shook strong and hard. The sand danced and spiralled inside the glass like the blossoms of the dragonwood tree back on Berk.
"Then, speak the name of the time and place you wish to visit, and smash your Stave down hard!"
Hiccup lifted his staff above his head, and shouted aloud in time with Astrid. "BERK, DENMARK! 12TH CENTURY!"
"DUNBROCH, SCOTLAND! 12TH CENTURY!" Merida chimed in, her hair starting to blow in the wind like Boudicca.
"CORONA, GERMANY! 18TH CENTURY!" Eugene and Rapunzel called in musical precision.
And then, the clearing echoed with the loud crack and tinkle of six metre-long glass Staves being slammed into the ground with such strength that they split and shattered into multiple fragments, releasing the pure green sand contained within them, which began to slowly circle around them until it looked like they were caught in a desert storm.
Straining his eyes through the wind and grit, Hiccup focused on the crowd beyond the sand, at all his friends watching in awe; at Hellboy, at Liz, at Abe and the Elf twins and Dr. Krauss, and most of all at Jack and the rest of the Guardians.
Hiccup allowed a daring smile to creep into his emerald eyes. "See you around, Jack," he whispered to himself.
And then the green sand rushed up and engulfed each of the three groups in round jade domes; they spun wildly for a few seconds, then the sand scattered to the wind, revealing nothing behind within them.
Dr. Johann Krauss sighed and opened a small valve on his helmet, allowing a small white teardrop to escape and roll on his gloved hands. "Ah, I'm going to miss zose children," he said.
Berk, 12th Century.
Gobber the Belch was busy at work in his beloved forge, using his prosthetic hammer hand to beat a piece of red-hot metal into shape while his eyes were shielded from the flying sparks by a small metal visor covering the top of his head. Behind him, his big lazy dragon Grump slept with a contented expression on his scaled face.
Gobber was a strong and solid figure, like most Vikings, and considered himself completely unflappable. Having repeatedly survived an ongoing battle with the near-legendary Boneknapper dragon, escaped the den of an angry bear with nothing but his undies and his dignity undamaged, and even faced down a gigantic Outcast with breath that stank of blood and Yaknog, few things scared Gobber.
So, upon feeling a rush of wind from behind his back, and threaten to blow the helmet off his head, he immediately responded by removing his visor, turning around and glaring at his dragon.
"I've already told ye, Grump, ye're not supposed tae stand vithin five metres of me on an upset stomach," he began, before observing the big Hotburple(who was now very awake and shaking his head) pointing with one short leg behind him.
Gobber curiously followed the dragon's fingers(claws) with his eyes, until they reached a familiar prosthetic foot(and three more non-prosthetic feet) and six scaled legs, before finally stopping at the four familiar heads of a pair of dragons and a pair of Berk teens, one of whom he'd worked with amiably ever since he was small.
"Astrid?" the blacksmith murmured. "Hiccup?" And then his face broke into a crooked grin and he threw wide his arms. "Ye've come back! Just like ye said ye vould! Velcome home!"
"Good to be back, Gobber," Hiccup replied, joining the one-armed blacksmith in a warm hug
Toothless let out a sharp grunt and waved his tail to remind Gobber of his and Stormfly's presence.
"Oh, hello, Toothless," Gobber replied carelessly, before then noticing something different about the dragon's tail. "What? Yer tailfin grew back? Where… how… why?"
And then he looked over Hiccup's shoulder and made out a gigantic blue-grey creature with massive muscles and a metal arm looking at him dubiously.
"And…ye've brought a very big friend home," he finished awkwardly, looking more than a bit awkward at the sight of a creature much larger and stronger than he was.
"Oh, this is Mr. Wink," Hiccup filled in. "He's a Troll."
At this, Gobber's blond single eyebrow rose startlingly high. "T-Troll?" he whispered incredulously. And then he started hunching himself on one side, as though trying to reach downwards at the same time as keeping eye contact with the Troll.
"Uh, Gobber, what are you doing?" Astrid asked, incredulous.
"Here ye go," Gobber replied, looking straight at the Troll as he clumsily pried one of his boots from his feet, exposing the funny yellow sock inside it. "Ye vant me sock? I von't stop you. Have a good sniff of it."
Mr. Wink's expression was hard to read, but his voice showed just as much surprise. "Seriously, why does every Viking I meet think I'm after their socks? I'm a warrior, not a clothes burglar!"
Now it was Gobber's turn to look incredulous. Quickly throwing the sock away, he then turned and jogged out of the forge into the village square. Immediately he shouted aloud, "OI, EVERYONE! I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS! HICCUP AND ASTRID HAVE COME BACK, VITH THEIR DRAGONS…AND A TROLL!"
News is quick to spread in a village of dragon-riding Vikings. After only a few minutes of Gobber shouting, the entire square was filled with excited yet tentative Hairy Hooligans, and their dragons following close behind.
"Hiccup's back?"
"Hiccup's back?"
"Hiccup's back!"
Such excited whispers as these passed through the awe-filled crowd, the most notable ones coming from the four teens and the village chief who pushed their way to the front of the crowd.
"What, Hiccup's back?" Snotlout whined a bit, only to receive a sharp elbow to the ribcage from Ruffnut. "I mean, Hiccup's back!"
"And he's brought a…Troll?" Ruffnut mused, eyeing up Mr. Wink in interest; her eyes lingered on his tall and muscular build.
Fishlegs didn't say anything, just trembled fiercely.
Stoick the Vast, meanwhile, walked over to stand beside his son. "I'm glad to have you back, son," he said. "But what happened while you were off on a quest?"
Hiccup glanced at his girlfriend, his new friend, and his two dragon friends. "Well, dad," he said, brushing the hair up the back of his head, "It's a long story…."
"Hello, everyone! It's Rapunzel here! I just got in touch with Sammael29 and he agreed to record this so I could keep you up-to-date with the state of our kingdoms now. And may I say, without fear of being interrupted…"
"Uh, Blondie?"
"Eugene, what are you doing?"
"I just wanted to have a small role to play in your epilogue thing, you know?"
"Well, I'm sorry, Eugene, but you got to handle the entire epilogue back in our first movie, remember? Just sit in the corner and have a biscuit until I'm done. Ok?"
"Whatever you say, Blondie."
"*sighs* Anyway, back to me. Ever since we returned from New York to our native time periods, life has improved for all three of our kingdoms in so many ways. Hiccup kept his side of the bargain with Mr. Wink, and soon showed his father that Vikings are just as capable of living with Trolls as they are with dragons. Soon, every Troll in the Barbaric Archipelago was moving into Berk, and the Vikings had to change their village to make them feel more at home. They have special forges built in underground shelters, special cliff-facing restaurants for the Trolls to do their own hunting, even specially-built four-poster iron beds, if I say so myself. And Gobber and Mr. Wink even opened their own jointly-run smithy. That Troll's like a brother to Gobber, and they both learn a lot from one another.
Back in Dunbroch, Merida returned to a warrior's triumph. She was reunited with joyful tears in the arms of her father and mother, and the four clans invented a new song to rival that of Mor'du: the song of Merida, the friend of Elves and killer of Nightmares. And while Fergus was more than a little perturbed to see how strong his daughter had become since the last time he saw her, he can now proudly boast that she got more from him than her good looks and spirit. After learning Merida's new friendship with a Viking, the clans agreed to peace terms with the tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago, and even took after them by opening the doors of their kingdom to magic-born creatures; in their case, they allowed none other than the Bethmoora Clan to become the official fifth clan of their kingdom, and Merida was overjoyed to meet up with her friend Nuala again.
As for me and Eugene, when we got back to Corona, we allowed more than a few Trolls and Elves into our own castle grounds. The Cronie Trolls are, well, overbearing, loud, meddlesome, inappropriate, and heavy- really, really heavy. But they're really endearing once you get to know them. And once they teach you how to really sword-fight (sorry, Eugene, but a real warrior doesn't just use frying pans to win their fights), it makes you really love being one of the four greatest heroes.
Jack? He's, well, Jack, same as always. But having Tooth for a girlfriend has really improved his character. Instead of the mischievous loner he once used to be, now he's become a real night-time socialite, always hanging out at the most classy spots in between collecting teeth. And he's just told me that there's been a new addition to the ranks of the Guardians; Jack Skellington, the new Guardian of Hallowe'en and Fear. Such a funny guy, and North likes him as well.
Oops! Sorry, I've got to go give Maximus his dinner, but one last thing: the last time I met up with Jack, Merida and Hiccup, we gave Hellboy and the rest of the former BPRD gang that souvenir. Combining our weaving skills from three different generations, we produced a beautiful tapestry detailing all our adventures with the BPRD; our first meetings, Sammael giving me back my healing powers, our battle with Rasputin, Mr. Wink, the Bethmoorans, and the defeat of the Golden Army. At its heart, we did an image of the four of us(and you and Astrid, of course, Eugene!) sitting in a circle with our new friends, hands crossed in friendship: the tale of four people and a demon who started out friends and became heroes. But while our adventures with the BPRD may be over, there are still many things for us to do. And whatever challenges confront us, we will overcome them. Because we are the Fun-bringer, the Healer, the Archer and the Tamer.
WE…ARE…
THE BIG FOUR!
Live-action cast
Hellboy: Ron Perlman
Elizabeth Sherman: Selma Blair
Abraham Sapien/ Angel of Death/ Chamberlain Conall: Doug Jones
Dr. Johann Krauss/ Bethmooran Goblin: John Alexander(Seth Macfarlane as voice of Krauss)
Director Thomas Manning- Jeffrey Tambor
Prince Nuada- Luke Goss
Princess Nuala- Anna Walton
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III: Nick Robinson
Jackson Overland Frost: Tom Felton
Princess Merida: Lily Cole
Princess Rapunzel: Evanna Lynch
Flynn Rider/ Eugene Fitzherbert: Brenton Thwaites
Astrid Hofferson: Jennifer Lawrence
Mr. Wink/ Fragglewump/ Cronie Troll/ Shopkeeper: Brian Steele (Mickael Persbrandt as voice of Mr. Wink)
King Balor: Roy Dotrice
Kozmotis Pitchiner Black: Benedict Cumberbatch
Sanderson Mansnoozie: Warwick Davis
E. Aster Bunnymund: Hugh Jackman (voice and motion-capture)
Toothiana: Afshan Azad
Nicholas St. North: Pierce Brosnan
Voice of Forest God: Richard Armitage
La Muerte: Penelope Cruz
Candle-Maker: Will.
Emily Jane Pitchiner: Katie Mcgrath
At last! A story which I first started a year ago, finally brought after much care and struggling to a brilliant conclusion. For those of you who liked the story, I will at some point start planning a prequel story revealing how the BPRD met the Big Four and became heroes. For now, though, I'm going to cancel the Warriors, and start planning out one of two story ideas I've got bouncing around in my head: either Lego Dimensions: A Quest for All Worlds, or another ROTBTD idea of my own, a parody of Jack the Giant Slayer, in which I will pair up the gracious Rapunzel with the endearing Hiccup…as soon as I can reason with a mildly jealous Eugene and Astrid…
*Eugene and Astrid: GRRRRRRRRRR….*
Until then, stay tuned, my friends, and let me know which of these two stories I should start working on first. Love, Sammael29