March 2007. Northern China

Five figures cautiously approached the entrance to the cave. Two were obviously human; a man and a woman. The man wore a forest green jumpsuit. The woman wore jeans and a jacket. The other three would cause anyone to run screaming. At the head was a large red demon wearing a brown overcoat and black pants. A red tail seemingly having a life of its own could be seen moving under the hem. In his belt was a very large revolver. His right hand looked like it was made completely of stone. Behind him were a merman and a cat-like being. The merman wore goggles and a type of respirator. His clothing was like a second skin. On his belt and in sheaths on his legs and arms were knives. The cat wore black pants, motorcycle boots and a black sleeveless top. Both the merman and the cat were blue and had revolvers on their belts. They stopped at the entrance.

"Alright, me and Wesa will be going in,"

"Why are you taking Wesa with you, Red?" the man asked.

"Cause Wesa can sniff things out the rest of us can't," The cat cleared her throat.

"I'm standing right here, guys. You can stop arguing about whether or not I'm going with Red,"

"Sorry," the demon started into the entrance. "You comin'?" Wesa sighed.

"Let's see if I can sniff out a dragon," the merman raised a gloved hand.

"Um, Red, Wesa?"

"What, Brother Blue?"

"If the dragon is hiding in there like the locals say, there is a good chance it will be a fire breather,"

"Your point?"

"Be careful. I really don't think Manning will want — "

"A crispy kitty, I know," Wesa gave Red a dirty look.

"I feel so much better now," The two went into the cave.

Red waved his left hand in front of his face.

"What smells like Blue's breakfast,"

"Sulfur. Mostly found in volcanic areas and dragon's breath,"

"You sound like Blue,"

"I'll take that as a complement," she teased. Before long, they came to a vast cavern littered with bones and charred bodies. Out of habit, Wesa sniffed the air. The air was heavy with the smell of sulfur. Red crouched next to one of the bodies and started fumbling around his coat. Wesa cautiously approached the edge. She sniffed again as she scanned the area around them. She could barely smell Red's scent through the sulfur. Wesa squinted across the cavern. She thought she had seen movement. Behind her Red was muttering. She had seen movement. Two gold dots appeared.

"Ah there it is," Red said. She saw the shape.

"Um, Red?"

"Let's see what you can tell us," Wesa knew Red had his amulet out about to wake the dead.

"Red?" The figure stretched out its wings. "HELLBOY!"

"What?" He turned toward her. "I'm busy,"

"Dragon!" The dragon roared.

"Aw, crap!" He leapt up and pulled Wesa away from the edge. "Move it, Kitty!" Wesa didn't have to be told twice. She heard the dragon begin it's pursuit. Behind her, Wesa heard Hellboy fire the Samaritan. Moments later, she heard his hooves behind her.

"DOWN!" He tackled her, knocking the breath out of her and landing with his bulk on top of her.

Blue stood in front of the cave's entrance, his hand ungloved and spread out. The agent paced back and forth, muttering to himself. The woman leaned against the side of the cave with a bored look on her face. She let a blue flame play across her fingers.

"Take cover!" Blue shouted as he pulled her away from the mouth and shoved her against the wall of the nearby rock.

"Take cover? What — " Flames shot out of the mouth of the cave, engulfing the agent. He screamed before the woman pulled out her revolver and ended his suffering. She put a hand to her ear.

"Red? Wesa? You guys ok?"

Hellboy picked himself up off the ground.

"That's gonna hurt later," He helped Wesa to her feet.

"No kidding," She grabbed her tail and extinguished the flame on the end. "Why is it every time I partner with you I have a ninety-five percent chance of being killed?"

"Because I'm me," Wesa smiled and shook her head.

"Red? Wesa? Come on, guys. Don't make me come in there,"

"Sheesh, Sparky," Wesa said over the radio. "You don't have to yell,"

"You hurt?"

"I'll be able to tell you that later. I had a demon on top of me,"

"Last I checked, you ain't fireproof," Wesa rolled her eyes as Hellboy shook off his ruined overcoat.

"Come on out and let Blue have a look at you, Wesa, to make sure Red didn't break anything,"

"On our way," Hellboy started in the opposite direction. "Where you going?" He held up the Samaritan.

"We gotta make sure that thing is dead," Wesa rolled her eyes.

"Of course," She muttered as she and Hellboy parted ways.

When she reached the mouth of the cave she smelt the scent of burnt flesh. Wesa put her hand under her nose.

"I take it Agent Miller is charbroiled?"

"Yeah. Dumbass wouldn't listen when Blue told him to take cover,"

"Figures," Blue put his ungloved hand on Wesa's back.

"I'm surprised Red didn't break anything," he said.

"Speaking of," Sparky said, peering into the mouth of the cave. "Where is Red,"

"Playing 'Lone Hero' again. Wanted to make sure the dragon was dead,"

"Of course," They heard a clicking behind them.

"I take it the thing's dead,"

"Yep," Hellboy walked out of the shadow of the cave's mouth. "At least it better be. I just fired the rest of the Samaritan's bullets into it's head," Sparky sighed.

"Let's get crispy Miller wrapped up and let's go home,"

"I second that,"