tushanshu | [Video]

[Ghosts. At first, Hellboy's not all that surprised by them. Over the last few years he's spent plenty of time with ghosts. When he's alone, it's kind of nice to have that kind of company again. Ghosts don't care much about the future, only the past. No speculating, no worrying over what's gonna happen next. It's strangely relaxing.

So over the last few days, when he's not checking up on Liz, he's found himself some new pals. He keeps to himself. They play cards, he drinks, tells old stories, and they come and go as ghosts tend to do.

It's not until he gets a chance to do some roaming around Keeliai does he realize how widespread the haunting really was.

It's a little unsettling, to say the least. He's pretty used to this kind of thing, but ghosts don't usually appear this solidly and in this great a number. Not unless something especially big and nasty came around to stir them up. Though if what they say about this place is true--about it existing somewhere between life, dreaming and death--maybe it's not that rare.]

Guess we've got ourselves a ghost problem. They seem pretty harmless, but if anyone has any trouble, I know a few ways of getting rid of them.

And don't waste your time with the guys in the masks. I think they're just out to make a buck.

[That pissed him off a little. Earlier he had seen a guy with a ridiculous mustache claiming to be an "expert" try to chase an especially irritated poltergeist out of a florist shop by banging pans together and doing some kind of crazy Macarena. And he tried to charge ten juulan for it. That was just painful.]

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Mind sharing a couple methods? I'd like to keep my apartment intact.

[partly true. if anyone's going to trash her apartment, it's her.]

Well, you've got the basic stuff. Burn some sage, tell them it's time to get going. Then you've got the Bad Stuff. But I don't think we have to worry about that. Seems like most of these guys just don't realize they're dead.

I don't know. A few seem a little more mischievous.

[she leans her head on her hands, an eyebrow slightly raised.]

What's the Bad Stuff? I like to be prepared.

Yeah, watch out for those guys. They can be trouble.

[Man, is she curious. More than most people, that's for sure. She's probably just one of those goths or whatever the kids are calling it. The kind of kids that wear too much eyeliner and hang out in graveyards in their spare time. Hellboy never really could understand the appeal.

Though there's still something about this girl that gives him a bad feeling, and it's not something he's gonna ignore. But as long as she doesn't cause trouble, he'll leave well enough alone.]

But the Bad Stuff... that's the stuff you can't prepare for.

[That's when they call in the big, indestructible guy and hope for the best.]

[she smiles, slightly, already knowing partly what he means by the Bad Stuff and partly wondering what kind he runs into on a daily basis if he's so familiar with it.]

I think I can handle them, considering. So you're talking about waves of ravenous undead. Huge things pulled from forgotten seas to run rampant on the land. Much more interesting creatures than a couple of grumbling ghosts, yeah?

Interesting. Sure.

[Not exactly the word he'd use for it.]

What would you call them, then?

A pain in the ass.

I'm sure they feel the same way about you.

Probably.

Never bothered to ask?

[He stares at her quizzically for a moment, wondering why she even wants to know all this. He guesses some people just have a morbid fascination, and it's always a little irritating when those people start asking him questions.]

Don't need to.

[morbid fascination is one way to put it.]

Okay. So say one of those huge pains in the ass comes out of nowhere and doesn't want to talk. What's your plan of action?

I'm curious. Don't meet a lot of heroes these days.

Listen, kid. I don't know what cult or rock band or whatever else you might be from, but I don't do interviews.

Fine. How about a trade? You tell me your techniques, I tell you mine. I hunt ghosts ... when I have to.

[He raises a brow, considering this. It could be possible. She could also be lying, but what difference did it make, anyway?]

Can't say I've got much of a technique.

Just run at things, axe in hand, and aim for the soft spots?

[He tilts his head, the corner of his mouth twitching into something that looks more like a grimace than a smile. His tone is wry as he brings his stone hand into the view of the camera.]

Don't even need an axe.

[she peers at that hand intently. probably a little more intently than necessary.]

Stone, or metal that looks like it?

[He'll just... put that hand back out of sight now.]

Yeah, it's metal. Lost the arm in a plane accident. But they had the technology. Said it'd make me better, stronger, faster.

[Okay, so he's just being a idiot now. Yeah, he knows what that hand is and where it came from, but he'd rather play dumb a million times over than talk about that.]

Looks like it was all to your advantage in the end.

[pop culture references: right over her head. she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary with that kind of thought process, so she pretty much believes it.]

Must be powerful magic - or technology, but I've heard they're basically the same thing - that keeps it from smashing to pieces against the really nasty things.

[Good. Then he'll just keep running with it.]

Yep.

Your magic?

Or someone else's?

Kid, you ask too many damn questions.

I get it. Sensitive topic for you. Let's change subjects.

[she'll have to find out another way.]

So you hit them and they're gone, huh? Sounds about as corporeal as the ones I'm used to. They go down with a couple hits themselves; none of this ... phasing stuff.

[video]

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