Tales From Crashdown: Beowulf

Chapter 3: Soul and Agitation

     Once Seph was disposed of and another door was put in place, it was decided to lock Beowulf, Joe and Riley in the hall between the opening gate and the door to the sanctuary.
     So, they sat, and they waited. As the hours passed and the clan prepared for their next LAN party, the triad began to sweat. This should not have surprised them, considering they sealed themselves in a steel hall without any air conditioning.
     Joe spent the time trying to tune his guitar, which began to scratch the nerves of Riley, who was practicing his iaijutsu.
     Beowulf spent the time banging her head against the wall and making a popping sound with her mouth, growing incredibly bored by the lack of physical stimulation. She attempted to challenge both Joe and Riley to a fight only a couple minutes into the seal, but both turned her down.
     Joe spoke up, “Beo, just sit still for a while.”
     Beo cried, “I caaaaaan’t! This is so boring, and I'm excited for this enemy, and there's nothing for us to do here because you don't wanna fight, and-”
     Riley cut her off, “Let me guess, you forgot your fidget cube?”
     Beo didn't answer.
     Joe chuckled a bit, “That's what happens when you burst out for a call instead of prepping first.”
     As they bickered, the doors at the front of the hall cracked open and the beast stood in the ajar gape.
     Beo immediately turned to it to get a good look at her next victory. However, she let out a sigh upon seeing it. She yelled, “What‽ That's just an average troll woman! She's only like…..what…..22 feet tall? Wait- I'm Icelandic! That's like…..6.7 meters!”
     Riley stood, grappling the hilt of his weapon, “I'll take her on if you want.”
     “Uggghhh!” Wined Beo, “No, I'll do it. I'm just disappointed.”
     Riley sat back down before Joe perked up, “You want me to play your battle theme?”
     Beo shook her head as she grabbed the wooden shield and the rusted iron sword from her back, “No she's not gonna be that big of a challenge.”
     The troll let out a slobbering gurgle of a yell before charging at Beo, raising her fist to smash the puny blonde.
     Unenthusiastically, Beo lifted her shield to block it.
     Much to the surprise of the jean-baring barbarian, the fiend bashed against her far more than it should have and knocked her to the floor.
     Once a moment passed, Beo kicked herself up, that smile having returned to her face.
     Riley turned to Joe and said, “So, I guess my theory was right.”
     Joe nodded, “Yup, a Soul Arts user. Looks like it knows some enhancement.”
     Riley stood up, grabbing his blade again, “Probably some absorption as well, which would explain why the teeth and chain of Romero's weapon disappeared. Meaning, that troll could eject any weapon or device from its body, and then strengthen its strikes with the enhancement.”
     Joe stood up after him, “Think she'll need some help?”
     Riley shrugged, “Maybe, but there's no harm in being prepared.”
     Beo leaped into the air and high kicked the monster woman in her jaw, causing her to stumble back.
     As the beast found her balance again, Beo leaped once again and attempted to drive her sword into the monster's heart.
     The rusted blade dug deep into the porcelain flesh of the vagabond. However, just as she tried to pull it out, the flesh of the giant kin swallowed it further into herself.
     Beo crawled up the head of the troll just before it swallowed her hand and held herself on by the hair. Snarkily, Beo said, “Normally I'm excited when a woman wants my fingers in her, but this may be the only time I decline.”
     Riley shouted, “That wasn't even clever!”
     Joe tucked his guitar away into his cloak before he asked, “Why is she on top of it anyway? She likes to blow enemies away.”
     Riley scratched his head, “Well, she's a show off. She probably wants to avoid her swipes. The troll will probably swipe at her and she'll avoi-”
     Beo let out a warcry as she took her fist and slammed it atop the troll woman's skull, jutting the troll forward before she fell to the cold, steel floor, unconscious.
     Riley and Joe approached the body, examining its torn up figure as they grew closer to it, all of the scars, the marks, and the damage taken from what had to have been decades of battle.
     Joe spoke, “This troll woman seems to be around 300 years old.”
     Riley yawned, “Does that matter? We've cut down enemies far older and far younger than that. Remember the Deletus Fetus? That cell that could turn inorganic matter organic?”
     Beo put her hand on her chin and popped her neck, “She probably has a few kids. Though, with her facing defeat, they'll most likely move. Though, I'm more concerned about this.”
     Beo pointed to the back of the troll's head, where a small, silver button shaped object was poking out of the creature's flesh. Then, she reached down and plucked it. Once it disconnected, it evaporated into a white most.
     Joe quickly held out his hand and grabbed at the mist. Slowly, it rebuilt itself as the silver button.
     Riley scoffed and smiled, “Nice reaction time, I thought you were gonna let it go.”
     Joe's neck whipped as he turned his head to face Riley, “You wanna bring THIS back up?”
     Riley chuckled again, “Touching a nerve, am I? Not my fault you let that guy's armour get dispersed.”
     Joe pulled off his hood, revealing his yellow-green deer head, “I swear to whatever gods are still alive, Riley, I WILL snap you in HALF!”
     Riley grabbed his hilt once again, “Big words for a walking package of sandwich meat.”
     “HEY!” Shouted Beowulf, “The two of you need to shut up, listen, and think.” She looked to Joe, “Now, what is that thing?”
     Joe examined it for a moment, rubbing, twisting, and flipping it. Then, he spoke, “Looks like a combination of projection and manipulation. A long range control. Imagine an RC car that you can control from a distance with a remote.”
     Riley added, “So this woman probably wasn't operating on her own.”
     Joe tucked the device away in his cloak, “Which explains the fighting and growling. Trolls aren't sophisticated on average, but they're not this…..slobbery either.”
     Beo hopped off the troll woman's back, “Think she'll be upset when she wakes up? I don't wanna make her upset.”
     Joe put his hand on the top of the troll's head and started to examine it, “That entirely depends on if I can fill in this hole.”
     Beo smirked, “Maybe I can fill her hol-”
     Riley quickly unsheathed his chain-katana and bashed Beo in the mouth with it, “Get some new material!”
     Beo responded, “I would, but we're nowhere near the right type of magazine shop!”