Snow. I must be getting close.
Rigel crunched through the stuff. To tell the truth, he didn't like it a bit. It wasn't like rain, which was warm and gentle. His rain nourished plants; it didn't lock them under a deathly blanket of killing cold. He walked underneath a sign on the side of the road. Pausing, he backtracked, blinking up at it.
Welcome to New York, the Empire State.
A huge pile of snow was balanced precariously on top. Rigel stayed far away from it. He was cold enough already, and didn't relish the thought of having it land on him. Picking his way around it, he jumped back, startled, as a grey blur sped past him. He smacked against the sign. Immediately, he was covered in cold, crystalline whiteness. Great.
Clearing the snow away from his eyes, he saw a truck pull over. The door opened, and a figure stepped out. Rigel gaped when he saw the man's features.
He had red skin, and was wearing a pair of dark pants and a trench coat. He had to be at least six- five, and there were two circular stumps—were those from horns?—on his forehead. A huge hand made out of rock clenched as he looked around. Rigel shivered.
He could sense potential in that hand. Potential to end. Everything.
The man bolted over into a growth of trees on the side of the road, in the same direction the grey thing had gone. The leaves rustled as they moved to let him in.
Rigel decided to shadow this strange man for a bit. He was very close to where his parents lived, and this way, he could help anyone who got hurt. He stepped into the forest.
It was eerily quiet. All the normal forest sounds he'd heard while walking were gone.
Is this the cold? Or that thing?
Screeechhh! Grrrrrr!
The grey blur was back, this time knocking him down and leaping up into a tree. Quickly getting to his feet, Rigel saw the thing materialize into a grotesque, fanged creature. Burning eyes locked on him, and a pair of dripping fangs opened inside a bloodstained maw. This thing had definitely hurt someone.
Concentrating, Rigel readied himself. Perhaps rain will calm it down? Frighten it?
The creature lunged for him, howling. Sidestepping and breathing out, Rigel sent a flurry of…
snow.
No! It's too cold here! My rain is freezing! Wait. That could be it, I only need to--
Growling, the creature clawed at Rigel, leaving two big scratches on his arm. Wincing, he ducked for cover, mentally scanning the sky for any suitable areas with moisture.
Got one. Rigel concentrated, sending down frozen spikes of compacted rain and snow. The first few missed the mark, but the creature couldn't escape the dozens falling from the sky. Three hit it in the head and neck. Shrieking, it fell to the ground. It twitched once, and then lay still.
Carefully, he let the clouds overhead dissipate. You couldn't be too careful. The last time he'd just let them go, they'd smacked right into a plane. What a mess that was.
A rustling noise interrupted Rigel's thoughts. Was there another one of those things? Creeping over to the source of the noise, he prepared to strike--
Wham! All of a sudden Rigel was falling down, down, down…
"Ah, shit." Hellboy looked over at the crumpled teen lying in the snow. A good deal of blood was leaking down his face. "Manning's gonna kill me for this."