Home Again – Brawl

So I finally finished off this chapter; it took me a while to get the fight scenes just right, I didn't want them to be too one-sided but I also didn't want them to be simple 'one on one' types either.

Anyways, enjoy!

Holly spoke up "I thought he died when the Adversary invaded?" Gren looked at her with suppressed anger "That lowlife probably hid in his bed with his mistresses while the fighting was going on, I'm not saying he's a coward or that he can't fight, far from it..." Gren rubbed his shoulder where the wound was upon remembering how he lost his arm the first time.

"But if he can take credit for things he didn't do, then he'll be there in a flash; his own accomplishments were maiming me, sleeping with and then killing my Mother, killing my half-Brother Fafnir who was his own fucking Son! That bastard should've died years ago..." Holly did her best to calm Gren down, she had never seen him so angry at anyone before; Gren never talked about his past, but it seemed that he had suffered just like everyone else had.

Bigby had overheard something about a 'Harbinger' in Beowulf's conversation and because of this he had planned on talking with him, though he was still oblivious to Beowulf's identity.

"So, what's your name, friend?" Beowulf spoke to Bigby from across the table.

"It's... Bigby" Bigby wasn't sure if anyone would get his real name from that.

Beowulf looked confused "Bigby? Does that stand for something?"

Bigby tried not to look surprised "Shit", he gathered himself quickly and spoke confidently "Yeah, it, uh, stands for Big Boss..." He hoped that would work.

Beowulf chuckled and so did his company "Well, Big Boss, you certainly look like you've seen your fair share of battles and women..."

Snow wasn't impressed by the 'women' comment and spoke lowly "Asshole", Gren heard her however and perked up "Thank you"

Bigby didn't respond to the comment, but he did respond with a question "So, who's this 'Harbinger' you were talking about?"

Beowulf looked more serious now as he leaned forward onto the table "The Harbinger of Doom is his title, he goes by the name of Nick apparently. He's put out a bounty on the Big Bad Wolf's head, 100,000 gold pieces for bringing him in alive, everyone in this place wants a piece of the action but no one knows where the Wolf is, only that he can take on a human appearance and is looking for a ship called the Adversary..."

Bigby was close to praying that no one would figure out who he was, he asked on impulse "Who are you?"

Beowulf stood up and spread his arms before shouting "I am Beowulf, a Saxon Lord and a slayer of monsters!"

He then pointed to Bigby "And you are my next encounter... Did you think I wouldn't be able to figure out your name, Wolf? 'Bigby'... it's so obvious that an idiot could figure it out!"

Beowulf was ready to attack and Bigby got ready for a fight. He stood up quickly and kicked the table into Beowulf; he fell forwards onto it with a grunt and when he looked up Bigby punched him across the face.

Gren stood up and yelled "God fucking bless Bigby Wolf!" The others looked at him and Gren sat down with a smug grin on his face.

With Beowulf apparently unconscious, one of the men behind Bigby picked up a chair and smashed it over his head, Bigby hit the table but recovered quickly, turning around and kicking the man in the crotch, dropping him to his knees, before kneeing him in the face with his other leg, the man fell backwards unconscious with a bleeding nose.

A goblin tackled Bigby into the table and went to punch him, Bigby blocked the attack and gouged out the goblin's eyes with one hand, he got to his feet and punched the goblin across the face before slamming his head down onto the table, knocking him out.

Beowulf wasn't unconscious however; he hopped the table and threw himself at Bigby, tackling him across the room and into the wall of the tavern, he proceeded to assault Bigby with hard punches and sharp knees to his body; Bigby tried his best to defend himself, but the Saxon was a lot stronger than he expected and wouldn't be beaten so easily.

In the heat of the moment, Bigby had forgotten how the Saxon had beaten Grendel with his bare hands before; Bigby however had tried but failed to do so, being forced to change form to beat the monster, a form that Bigby didn't possess at this moment in time.

Bigby managed to grab Beowulf's leg as he went to knee him again and forced him backwards to the floor, punching him a couple of times in the face afterwards; Beowulf grabbed Bigby's arm as he went to punch him again and gripped it tightly as he punched Bigby in the face. Bigby fell backwards in a slight daze, this guy could hit hard, really hard.

Beowulf got up and picked up Bigby by the collar of his ruined shirt, Bigby head butted the Saxon but it didn't make him let go, he kicked Beowulf in the stomach and separated them from each other, though Bigby's shirt was no more. Beowulf threw down the remains of Bigby's shirt and removed his own shirt afterwards, apparently believing in a weird sense of equality when it came to fighting.

Beowulf rushed forward and went to punch Bigby, he ducked the punch and hit the Saxon in the gut before delivering a swift uppercut to his chin; now in a slight daze, Bigby roundhouse kicked Beowulf in the face and he stumbled to the side.

Bigby tackled Beowulf into the wooden rail of the second floor and kneed him a couple of times in stomach, hitting him hard across the face afterwards. Beowulf countered another punch and pinned Bigby against the railing before punching him and kicking him straight through it, Bigby fell onto one of the tables below with a loud crash and the patrons that were sat at it all looked at him in confusion.

Beowulf shouted from above "Get him!" The 3 patrons (1 goblin and 2 trolls) dragged Bigby to his feet and one of the trolls punched him in the face; Bigby stumbled into the bar and fell onto one of the patrons that were sat at it, it happened to be the same man he had glassed earlier. The man exclaimed angrily "You spilled my drink!" and shoved Bigby away.

He went to punch a dazed Bigby, but Bigby ducked the punch and tackled the man into the bar before smashing him a couple of times in the face with a metal tankard that had been resting on the bar, knocking him out.

Bigby turned around just as the goblin went to stab him with its dagger; Bigby grabbed the goblins hand and managed to pry the knife away from it before stabbing it into the goblins neck and dragging it across quickly, its red blood spurted over Bigby but he paid no attention to it.

Beowulf had been walking down the stairs as the fighting had been going on, Bigby threw the dagger at him and the Saxon tilted his head to the side, the dagger flew straight past him and landed in the eye of one of the other patrons, the force of the throw caused the blade to go in deep and it killed the man in an instant, he fell forwards and the dagger went straight through the back of his head with a wet sounding crack at the impact of the floor.

The 2 trolls and the other patrons backed away in fear as the two men continued their vicious display; more punches and kicks were thrown from both parties but neither would back down, Bigby got the upper hand as he stomped on Beowulf's leg and kicked him hard in the face afterwards. Beowulf got up weakly and pulled out a knife, he started attacking Bigby with ferocity and precision; Bigby dodged and parried the Saxon's fierce assault but a few slashes did get through Bigby's defence here and there.

Eventually Beowulf had Bigby pinned against the bar and started forcing the knife into the centre Bigby's chest, it entered slowly as the skin was pierced, a few drops of blood oozed from the wound but it started flowing a little quicker as the knife went deeper; both men were bloodied, beaten and looked as though they could pass out at any moment, but they were still strong enough to continue fighting.

Bigby was groaning ever louder in pain and wouldn't be able to hold off the Saxon's great strength for long, so he made a mental apology to Snow and went feral.

Bigby allowed the knife to go a little further in so he could lean forward and clamp his teeth into Beowulf's ear, he ripped it off and the Saxon fell back with a loud cry as the side of his head started pouring blood without signs of stopping. Bigby spat out the ear and grabbed Beowulf's right arm, breaking it at the elbow and leaving it in an odd position afterwards.

Bigby caught his breath a little and spoke lowly "I know your buddy Gren... an eye for an eye"

Bigby grunted as he pulled the knife from his chest and then stabbed it deep into Beowulf's right shoulder, the Saxon let out a humiliating cry of pain as Bigby dragged the knife across slowly with force; his intention was to rid Beowulf of his arm like he had done to Grendel.

Snow was in shock "What the hell is he doing!?" Gren stood up for Bigby's actions however as he rubbed his shoulder again "An eye for an eye..." Holly and Woody seemed to agree with him and Snow could do nothing but agree internally and watch the violence before her. Beowulf had intended on killing her love, so in this instance she would forgive Bigby for his actions, she would've probably done the same if given the chance...

Bigby got the knife across the top of Beowulf's shoulder before something blunt hit him across the back the head with a sharp impact, he turned around dazed and saw a very big, muscular troll with red scaly skin much like Holly's standing behind him wearing Imperial colours and wielding a ball-bearing cosh; the troll hit Bigby hard across the face with the cosh and he fell unconscious from the blow.

A man in an Officer's uniform of Imperial colours with a blue fedora hat and cape took the cosh from the troll and made himself known "What is going on in here!?"

The barman explained what had happened as a horrifically injured and very limp Beowulf was dragged up to his feet by members of his company, the dagger was removed from his shoulder but there was little movement in his arm.

Afterwards, the troll picked up Bigby and shackled his hands. The Officer examined him and nodded "He's the one that killed the dragon; we'll take him and go" The barman spoke up "What about my bar? Do I get any kind of compensation for this!?" The troll looked at the barman menacingly and spoke with a gruff tone "No"

When Bigby fell unconscious, the Mirror reverted back to normal and the others became confused; Boy Blue spoke "What happened?" The Mirror replied without rhyming "When Bigby falls unconscious or falls asleep, there is no need for me to show you his progress; besides, you all need rest, you've been sat in here for nearly 6 hours"

The group stood up and a combination of hunger and dehydration hit them in various ways; they had no idea how long Bigby would be out for so they would just have to come and go as the day went on. It was strange how the Mirror affected them when they watched Bigby in the Homelands, if they stared for just 1 second then in reality it would've been 2 seconds despite not feeling like it.

Bigby woke up at the splashing of cold water on his face. He shook his head and tried to get an idea of his surroundings, his eyes were squinted from bruising and his vision was blurry, but his hearing was slowly becoming clearer. He could feel cold metal tight around his wrists and a mix of male voices all around him.

Someone spoke with a gruff and animalistic tone "He's awake"

The troll that had knocked Bigby unconscious gripped his chin and forced Bigby to look up into the eyes of the Officer that commanded the patrol. The Officer knelt and smirked "I must admit, I've never seen anyone kill a dragon that quickly before... who are you?"

Bigby spoke with a strained voice, he was tired and the pain of his encounter with Beowulf was coming back to him in waves, his chest hurt most of all "Kiss my ass"

The Officer gave a brief chuckle "Don't worry, we can get you to talk properly when we reach the outpost, it should only be about a mile away now..."

Bigby needed to get out of this situation fast; the Empire wouldn't be able to torture him physically for information but it no doubt had sorcerers and witches that could get information from him using magic, and Bigby knew too much about Fabletown to let any of it fall into enemy hands...

Meanwhile; Snow and the others had flocked back into the Business Office in the early hours of the morning to see Bigby's progress, they were tired but Bigby's adventure was exciting enough to watch that they were never bored of it.

"What if Bigby can't escape them?" Snow spoke towards Cindy, who replied with a sip of her extra strong coffee "Trust me, Bigby can stand interrogation in all its forms, he taught me remember. But if they use magic, then he'll have no choice but to cooperate... Don't worry Snow, he'll escape somehow"

Snow became worried "But what if they kill him?" Gren chuckled at her response, he was still happy with Bigby's actions against Beowulf "He'll survive, he always does somehow..."

Bigby was being dragged behind the troll as the patrol of Imperial troops continued walking along a hard dirt track in between two thick lines of tress that led into the woods. Bigby must've been unconscious for several hours as it was now night time and the moon was shining bright along with the stars; they always shined brighter in the Homelands, it was a truly peaceful sight...

The troll was dragging him by the chain of his shackles; in his current form and condition Bigby could beat maybe 3 of the 10 man patrol even with the shackles on, but the troll would be the biggest problem, if he grabbed Bigby then it would all be over.

But then something in the wind caught Bigby's nose; he smelled the wolves that he had encountered earlier that day and they were close, very close; this would have to work.

Bigby stopped himself from moving and the troll turned around in surprise "What are you doing, keep walking" Bigby started growling like a Wolf, the growl intensified gradually as Bigby lifted his head to reveal his eyes were red and his teeth were gritted.

Briar spoke up "What is he doing?" The others all looked closer, they couldn't tell either.

Suddenly Bigby yelled "Kill them!" in a very wolfish voice. The 10 black wolves that Bigby encountered earlier all jumped out from both sides of the woods and proceeded to assault the patrol with tooth and claw.

The entire patrol struggled to fight off the feral assault; the wolves were blending in with their dark surroundings and their bloodlust made them more savage than normal. The screams of men as they were torn to pieces by the hungry pack filled the night air along with the raw smell of blood; it was all too familiar to Bigby, but that was a long time ago and he had no intention of going back to that life, the life of a lonely monster...

Blue spoke up in surprise "Wow, I never knew he could do that!" Cindy smirked "I did..." The others all looked at her and Beauty asked in disbelief "How?" Cindy continued to smirk "He used some wolves to gain information in Germany during WW2..."

In amongst the mayhem, the troll let go of Bigby and fought off 3 wolves at once, whether or not he survived would depend on fate itself. Bigby ran towards the Officer, who was fending off the pack leader with his sword; Bigby tackled the Officer to ground and pried the key to his shackles from the man's belt, the Officer managed a lucky swipe at Bigby's stomach as he stood up however and cut him deep.

Bigby fell backwards with the attack but paid no attention to it as the Officer continued to fight the pack leader with fierce determination; Bigby scrambled to his feet and ran through the woods. It started raining heavily all of a sudden and the sounds of screaming men and tearing flesh were dying down, Bigby couldn't tell whether it was from slaughter or simply putting distance between himself and the action.

Bigby continued to run through the vast woods and the heavy rain but noticed that he was becoming weaker, his wounds were taking their toll on him at last and he was losing blood at a more rapid pace now; but fortune seemed to be smiling on him.

Bigby came to a clearing that had a decently sized and modest looking cottage in the middle of it; he finally removed his shackles and stumbled towards the wooden door, banging on it hard, but there was no response. Bigby suddenly fell limp and passed out from exhaustion, but could've sworn that he fell onto a wooden floor as he did so...

Woody was in shock at the sight of the cottage "I know that place..."

Next time: The sins of the past come back to haunt Bigby...

Next chapter probably won't have any action in it, but be prepared for a new charcter introduction, this one's from the comic series (Let's see if you can figure out who it is)

As always; PLEASE leave a review, favourite/follow the story if you are liking it and I will see you all next time!

Also, I know it's 3 days away but just in case I don't upload anything on the 25th, Merry Christmas everyone!