Recommended Songs
[1] It's Oh So Quiet (Piano Version) - Fingering Piona
[2] Nightmares (Instrumental) - WE ARE FURY [Repeat 0:03 - 0:39]
[3] It's Oh So Quiet (Epic Version) Harley Quinn: Birds Of Prey Trailer Music
[4] Get Jinxed (Instrumental) - League of Legends [0:00 - 0:39]
'New Swag in Town' Part 5 - Inhibited and Not Limited
It was already late at night, but Charleston wanted to talk with Jazzy for a while as she convinced her to go out on a walk after dinner. All the performances on the stage and food were great, but however, the loud noise didn't really give her a chance to properly talk with Jazzy. Bastille got lucky and Finn was just close to her. She missed out on the juicy bits, so she needed to hear from Jazzy about her time in TrollsTopia and the incident where this so-called Classical Troll threw a bomb at her. [1]
She kind of missed Jazzy a little. The Chess Master was fun to play with and she gave her some helpful tips when it came to fighting and going out on trips. But not as if she really bothered using them every time she chose to leave her town with very bad consequences. Jazzy was like one of her tutors who tried to get along with her. Jazzy isn't as edgy as Finn at times, but she is really hard working and no-nonsense when it comes to...anything. Just about anything that came onto her list.
Jazzy was a little surprised that Charleston called her up on a personal, girl talk. Out of everyone, she expected Charleston to be the last one to want to hang out with her. They only talked to each other because her aunt asked Jazzy to teach Charleston how to fight and how to do her maths. She didn't know that Charleston would want to take her out for a walk together. It would be weird if it would be for another thing and if that involved her relationship with Finn.
Remembering back to her talk with Branch 5 months ago, she knew that she and Charleston didn't really hang out that much. They didn't converse with each other in their interests or other things in general. Charleston is somewhat extroverted, but that doesn't mean she spends her entire life around a lot of people as Poppy does. Charleston just does what she does. Jazzy still finds it unsure if they are really friends.
But nevertheless, Charleston is interested in hearing about Jazzy's experiences in TrollsTopia after she left her there.
"So this burglar named 'Bruce' tried to steal something and then revealed everything to you and the Pop Leaders?" asked Charleston, trying to understand everything after Jazzy's story.
"Yep," muttered Jazzy. "Heaven forbid, it is something I should have known from the very start. At first, I thought that it might be fine, but I forgot about the potential wave of criminals coming in."
"There is something I still don't get," said Charleston, looking concerned. "The Trolls have all reunited which means that all Trolls should be cooperating at this point, even though there is still tension from what happened." She paused on that, shivering a little as a group of Rock Trolls passed by. "I'm guessing that there is still some kind of conflict between everyone."
Jazzy sighed. "It is wickedness and it cannot be stopped. The sub-tribe Trolls out there personally hate Pop Trolls for what they did and they don't approve of others for who they are. And most of them probably don't care about it; they just want to cause chaos all around us."
Charleston frowned. Of course, why wouldn't they? The world isn't filled with enough bastards to make one's life eventful. There are just ungrateful idiots everywhere who want to ruin everybody's days as much as what the Rock Trolls did to hers.
"Before, what did you consider to do?" asked Charleston.
Jazzy frowned. "I don't think I should tell you."
"I mean, it should be fair for you to tell me. It is not like you are a psycho that much as the Rock Trolls." Charleston's eyes widened at what she just said. "I-I mean, you are not really a bad person. Even as the 'Chess Master', you do good, right? Do you know a way?"
Jazzy halt, shaken by Charleston's insensitive question. That was a bad thing to remind her of what she did of being a bounty hunter. Thinking about it, she isn't sure if word about her murders reached to the other Swing Trolls. It could be a few or a small group if there are some Trolls trying to stay away from her. Charleston probably know about her extreme measures, but there isn't a hint if anybody knew that Jazzy can be AND was a murderer.
The world was already infected with evil, mutants, ugly minds and the worse of all the worse species in the universe. It was plagued, horrified and turned into a playground that was turned inside out. Sure that everything seemed normal, but she wanted to watch out. Everybody is good at playing up an innocent act until people look the other way. While people can try to change, it doesn't really help to get rid of the bad parts that remained in them.
However, she isn't better than any of those 'bad parts'. She got blood on her hands and she already got suspended for a short time. Does everyone need to know what she has done? Does anyone need to know what she thinks? She is still worried that there are still horrible people who are out for them, especially for the Pop Trolls because of their ancestors' actions. However, not everybody agrees with everything she thinks.
It took her a while that she had been assuming a lot. However, it might have been too late. And no matter how much she actually wanted to do good, it doesn't sugarcoat her gruesome and shady things she did in the past. Queen Poppy had a point that she went too far, Branch was right to be disgusted towards her and Finn was somewhat tired of her for her worries. It was getting too much with her over worrying.
"As Queen of the Pop Trolls. I have to do what is right and all the leaders agree with me. You might have chosen too many choices, but maybe that is because you are looking at the outside instead of what is beneath them! That is one of the problems for the Pop Trolls; we tend to try to change everything instead of caring about what is important to others and I don't want that same conflict to happen!"
Poppy's voice hissed in the back of Jazzy's mind. But how come it can be difficult to look inside them actually? Time is important, but how when time is straining on people?
Jazzy chose to not say anything as she looked away from Charleston. She instead took a look at where they are at the moment. Country Corral. The area where the Country Trolls reside is in TrollsTopia. Currently the only place that doesn't have an open place for one of the new five sub-tribes to take property in due to its circumstances. Because they are in Pop Village, it isn't so hot. They designed it to make it feel like Lonesome Flats. During daylight, it would be glowing orange or lime yellow as if they went back in time. However, at night-time, it is as if everything came alive.
The darkness, the dark blue that covered nearly everything, gave the colors of the homes, shops and farms a vibrant look. Jazzy might be hallucinating if they are glowing in the dark. It would be a nice place to have dinner around with the entire family. Despite the arid terrain, it felt breezy and fresh. It felt much more grounded compared to Pop Village.
It feels nice.
Charleston waited for an answer, but Jazzy didn't say anything back to her. The Chess Master had become silent as a stone. There was a mixture of emotions on Jazzy's face, but it turned stoic when she started to look around. Maybe she should ask her.
But no. She doesn't want to. Looking at the shadow that fell upon Jazzy's face, she doesn't want to push any buttons now. It might not be the right time. She realized how stupid it was for her to say these words to her. She actually doesn't know why, but Jazzy didn't hide her anxiousness. Charleston hates this. She is upset that Jazzy is upset with her.
Before Charleston could open her mouth, Jazzy suddenly had a question.
"Wait a minute," she said. "With you around here, does that mean you will be able to take care of the trouble? Especially with Branch and Poppy?"
Charleston shrugged. "I don't know. I already spent time with them and I want to spend some more time with Branch."
"But you mix around a lot of people. You were a part of their group during the World Tour."
Charleston smiled. "Yeah. They are fun to play around with. However, I am not really a leader in the end. And they have their own business, so I'll let them be."
That was when Charleston remembered back to Desdemona's words earlier this morning
"I thought that because you are in cahoots with the Pop Leaders, you would tag along with them like every good-looking, colorful and likable characters getting the main characters to follow them in a kids' movie!"
Desdemona had some history with Finn and it might be possible that she talked with Jazzy before. That Indie Alternative Troll still feels weird to her. Charleston can't help but notice how much she let on about her and Bastille's association with the World Tour. Asking if they are in the leader circle already. It shouldn't be the case, right?
"Do you know about this neighbor called 'Desdemona'?" Charleston asked. "She asked me the same question and...made a happy big case about it."
Jazzy thought about it. "Finn...told me about that neighbor, but I don't know her."
Charleston blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Pardon me, but I never met this 'Desdemona' Troll before," said Jazzy, genuinely confused. "That person only talked to Finn, but I never saw her before."
Charleston's heart skipped a beat. If Desdemona was cozy with Finn, then how come she never set foot near Jazzy before? The Indie Alternative Troll just moved in, so it shouldn't be a coincidence that she wouldn't miss out on meeting all the neighbors.
"You two never met each other?" she asked.
Jazzy shrugged. "Never even saw her appearance in pictures."
"Oh...well, hear me on this, do you think...she might be having something?"
Jazzy had a thoughtful look. "I...I don't know."
"Is she avoiding you?"
"But Finn told me that she wishes to see me but doesn't have all the time in the world to do so!"
"Strange," muttered Charleston. "And yet, she casually told me that I shouldn't need to worry about anything bad that might happen here."
"W-What makes her say that?"
"I don't know. It is like...she expects me and Bastille to still be with the leaders, again."
Jazzy nodded. "It's not like everybody has a forever chance to be with a group of people that much."
"In any case, I still doubt that we would be caught up in a disaster." [1s]
BOOM!
Charleston screamed and jumped into Jazzy's arms as a bar far from them suddenly exploded. Well, there is an explosion, but there is a loud and noticeable one that spewed from one of the windows. And the bar started to catch on fire. Not just regular fire, but BLUE fire. Cyan and blue and light blue flames could be seen by the glow of them. There is shouting inside.
"Please don't tell me that we are actually infected by the trouble plague!" squealed Charleston, shaking.
Jazzy rolled her eyes as she dropped Charleston to the ground. "Nope."
The two Swing Trolls quickly ran towards the attacked bar. Several Trolls ran out, panicking. However, that seemed to be everybody as there doesn't seem to be another person inside. Well, almost. When they peeked from the door, they are surprised to see the commotion inside. [2]
Inside, it is only the tables that are burning. However, the blue fires are too close to the bar table where they have shelves with alcoholic drinks. In the corner are a group of four rugged-looking Country Trolls surrounded by a group of four other Trolls that appeared to take a dark blue and black look. It is as if a fight just broke out and the group of Country Trolls was the losing team.
"OK, OK!" yelled the Country Troll who was at the front, sounding more annoyed than scared. "Now what?"
There is a Classical Troll who seems to be taking the lead of the opposite group. White hair, brown eyes, black stripes under his eyes and wears a brown formal jacket and spiky bracelets. He chuckled a little at how the lead Country Troll is still acting stubborn then choosing to stand down.
"I can think of more ways possible," he said.
Jazzy gasped, nearly going into the urge to run.
Bruce Ritardando? Him? Again? How did he get back in? He became one of the most wanted in TrollsTopia!
"Y-You know them?" asked Charleston, noticing Jazzy's reaction.
"That's Bruce Ritardando," said Jazzy. "The same Troll who kicked my butt 5 months ago. And it appears that he has a rivalry with the Gulf Diggers."
The Classical Troll, named Bruce, calmly snatched the wallet out from the leader of the Gulf Diggers - the Country Troll group - and looked through it. He took out the cash, but threw back the wallet.
"That's all you are taking?" said the leader of the Gulf Diggers.
"Well, I hope your health insurance card is back home," said Bruce, smirking. "If it's here, then your money will be lost when it burns here. I got to say, I'm impressed that you four got here even though you are some of the most notorious criminals of Lonesome Flats! But I guess that since the old members died, you brought three new wannabes. Oh well, this is also my second crime."
"Uh...who exactly are you?" asked one of the Gulf Diggers. "I have never seen your face on the papers before."
Bruce shrugged and adjusted the collar of his jacket. "My name is Bruce Ritardando. The leader and strategist."
Bruce Ritardando
- Dirty old man
- A REAL mastermind
"Wait, tell me again," said one of the Gulf Diggers. "Y-You're the one who set foot on damaging TrollsTopia?! Is that what the stories are about?!"
Bruce grinned as if he was a proud kid who made their first debut song. "That's me!"
"Oh hell no," said one Gulf Digger. "I'm outta here!"
He immediately scrambled from his own group and tried to escape. He would have made a quick beeline if it wasn't for the burning obstacles that proved to be too hot and hard to breathe through. A Techno Troll who is part of Bruce's quartet was the first to notice him. He looked like anything but a regular Techno Troll; black glowing skin, white and red hair tied up in a high dreadlock ponytail, blue misty eyes, a light blue heart on his chest and grey and brown arm bands.
"Don't worry, boss!" he shouted. "I got him!"
The Techno Troll went flying towards the runaway Gulf Digger, chasing him around like a dragon trying to munch on a running pig.
"That there is Riptide," said Bruce politely to the Gulf Digger leader. "Our spy of the team."
The running Gulf Digger stopped and turned around, seeing the speeding black Techno Troll coming towards him.
Riptide grinned, ready to enjoy this. "Better protect your back, pops!"
Riptide Whirlpool
- Thief, speedster, spy
- The hot-shot of the group
But it turned out, the Gulf Digger KNEW what was behind his back. [2s]
He simply stepped aside and Riptide went crashing right into a huge pile of boxes. Like a bowling ball hitting pins, the boxes flew everywhere and spread all over the now-dumbfounded Riptide.
"You're bad at this," grumbled a Rock Troll staring at Riptide, another member of Bruce's quartet.
"Oh," said Bruce, still talking with the Gulf Digger leader without looking away. "This is Rhea. Weapons and technology." [2]
The mentioned Rock Troll ran towards the escaping Gulf Digger and immediately grabbed him by the sides to pull him around and placed him in handcuffs quickly.
Jazzy raised an eyebrow. She never saw the criminals working for Bruce before.
The Rock Troll looked really unnerved or just burnt out. There is a look of boredom unlike the tense looks of the other criminals in the bar. Her skin is muddy red, her black hair is styled in a frizzy mullet, have purple eyes and she wears a spiked headband, a gray undershift, a black leather jacket, black leather pants and spiky brown boots. She would look like one of the normal Rock Trolls if it wasn't for the black stripes she has under her eyes like Bruce.
"She never tells a lie!" said Bruce proudly. [2s]
As if about to give the answer, Riptide zoomed in again to tackle the Guff Digger...only missing by an inch from his right ear and crashing into the wall, head-first.
CRACK!
His body slumped to the floor as he let out a groan. A crack appeared at the impact.
"You're going too fast," said Rhea bluntly. [2]
Rhea Rockout
- Black belt, weapons expert, hacker
- Doesn't give a crap about what she says
"Oh c'mon!" complained Riptide. "Charging in makes it more unexpected!"
The fourth member of the group, a Country Troll, sighed and shook her head.
"Boy," she said. "You got a lot to learn, Whirlpool."
"And oh," said Bruce. "And that is Chestnut; our main fighter and field operative."
"Wait a minute," said the Gulf Digger leader in disbelief. "You're with them?!"
He got a good look at Chestnut; a Country Troll with brown skin, long orange hair in a braid that nearly reached her feet, green eyes, a midnight blue visor, a white muddy shirt, a red scarf and orange and black goggles around her neck, and red and black tiled overalls with rips on the legs.
"Not my problem," said Chestnut. "I got a job to do now."
Chestnut McClash
- The main brawn, expert in martial arts
- Close to being the mom of the group
"McClash," said Bruce, closing his eyes. "Please give the henchmen some sleep. They look exhausted."
Chestnut snorted. "With pleasure."
POW! POW!
With two punches simultaneously at the same time, Chestnut knocked out the two Gulf Diggers that were on the sides of the leader. They dropped like flies, stars flying around them. Seeing this, Riptide punched the other Gulf Digger member Rhea was holding underneath the jaw.
CRACK!
"ARGHHH!" the Gulf Digger screamed. "In the teeth, really?!"
"Oh man!" groaned Riptide. "How come that didn't knock him out?"
"I think you were supposed to hit him in the forehead or where the brain is," said Rhea in a monotonous tone. "That is probably where the pressure point is more likely to be at."
"Just knock him out anyway," said Bruce, waving his hand. "It's all the same."
"But these guys have a lot of meat around their faces!" said Riptide as he observed for a good spot on the disgruntled Gulf Digger's face. "They aren't even chubby-!" [2s]
POW!
Just like that, Chestnut punched him point-blank and he went out like a light. Rhea nearly stumbled due to the man falling unconscious. Riptide could only give Chestnut a look before the latter smirked and cheekily rubbed his ponytail.
"Animals!" hissed Riptide.
The leader of the Gulf Diggers is growing impatient, mostly due to the fire spreading… [2]
"Get to the point," he said. "You have my wallet, can we go out now?"
"No," said Bruce. "That is just an added bonus I gave myself."
"And what is the other goal that is most important?"
"Making sure that you are dead."
The leader's eyes widened. "You mean?"
"Why yes," said Bruce in a cheerful and sarcastic tone. "And I find that it might be more effective to bring this bar down with all of you and to let everybody know that the Midnight Hawks are not going to let ANYONE get even with us."
"Even with you?" said the leader. "What do you mean?"
"It's all about competition, my dear friend. And when in a competition, you must KILL your competition. Though, I would have let you go free, but requirements are requirements, and time is time-TIGHT, so I have to kill you!"
The leader just stared back. "The Midnight Hawks?"
"Yep!" said Riptide.
"Uh-huh," said Chestnut, trying to puff up her chest.
"Don't ask," muttered Rhea.
The remaining Gulf Digger just snorted. "I don't know about you, but you guys just started. There are other criminals coming in."
"Oh, I'm depending on that," said Bruce, leaning in. "I expect them to come in. But my task is to kill you and you Gold Diggers. Ogling around with picking your own nose and...too many demands on needing to get rid of you."
The leader of the Gulf Diggers frowned, nearly trying to step away. Now, he looked uncomfortable. He rather burn already instead of being up this close with the new threat.
"What do we do about the other three?" asked Rhea while Chestnut started looking for loot on the three unconscious Gulf Diggers. "And are there any other people in here?"
Riptide quickly did a search around the entire bar before shaking his head. "Nobody is snooping around here now. I think we should just let them go. They don't look like 'competition' as much as the old Gulf Diggers."
Bruce thought about it. "Hmm...whatever. Besides, this is all becoming a huge messed-up mess show for these brand new criminals with no experience."
"What about me?!" yelled the leader Gulf Digger.
Chestnut just punched him in the face, knocking him out.
"Grunge technically didn't say to kill the new Gulf Diggers," said Chestnut. "So, we can let them go."
"On second thoughts," said Bruce, stroking his chin. "Why not just cook them over the fire? Might make a delicious smell..."
"What?! "Gross! Are you a cannibal?"
"No, I'm not. I'm just kidding!" Bruce's smirk disappeared with what Chestnut said, realizing the implications. "Sheesh, I'm not THAT crazy."
Jazzy could only stare at the scene in shock. Bruce somehow managed to make a criminal group of his own and called it the 'Midnight Hawks'. He isn't caught yet and now, his fight against the long and falling-apart Gulf Diggers is probably the first time in months ever since he did a criminal act. She remembered back to his words to know him as the 'start of chaos'. This must be what he meant. The same Classical Troll who put her down and revealed everything about herself to Poppy and Branch. One she kept worrying would return.
Meanwhile, Charleston, who had no idea who the criminals were, is already on instinct.
"Don't just stand there," she said, spinning her cane around. "Help them!"
"No way," said Jazzy. "They are all criminals. We can take the Midnight Hawks when we come out of the bar."
"Oh for Pete's sake! All of them will be burned into charcoal!"
Jazzy wanted to protest, but Charleston already made her presence. [2s]
"Hey, devil Trolls!" called the brown Swing Troll. "Leave those good-looking males alone!"
The Midnight Hawks stopped their conversations to see a stern Charleston with her hands on her hips.
Jazzy sighed, knowing that she shouldn't be hiding. She stepped in, trying to ignore the blue fires around them.
Bruce tried to put on a straight face, but he couldn't hide his shock of knowing that the Chess Master found him for the second time.
"Hi there, Ritardando," said Jazzy bluntly. "I was wishing that you would have stayed down much longer than this instead of just causing unnecessary mayhem. Just some real criticism after what you told me."
Bruce groaned, rolling his eyes. "You and that kid stay out of this. I got business to attend to and my new teammates have a lot of unsolved anger issues."
"What do you even want with these guys?" asked Charleston, pointing to one of the unconscious Gulf Diggers. "What did they do to you?"
It was quick, but Charleston nearly screamed as Rhea threw one of the knocked out Gulf Diggers near to her. His body landed near her feet with some of his guns dropping off from his belt and his hat popping off...revealing a secret rocket launcher inside.
"These guys are not supposed to invade our territory," explained Rhea calmly, nearly in anger. "They set foot here, but we have to clear the path so that they don't interfere with us."
"Oh really?" said Jazzy, turning to Bruce. "You said that you knew that more criminals are going to come. You're really THAT desperate to be number one of all of them?"
"Honestly, I would rather be partaking in another business than this," admitted Bruce. "But I made a deal with someone to give my new team a headstart and our first official task is to off the Gulf Diggers. It's not my problem and it is a pain in my back as well."
"It still counts."
"Wait a minute," said Charleston, confused. "I forgot. What is your name again?" [3]
"Are you serious?!" snarled Jazzy.
"My name is Bruce," said Bruce flatly. "It will be the last name you will hear until you get out with your enforcer buddy. And just to let you know again, it would be much preferable to let everybody do their own thing. Because with all the criminals in town now, there will be nothing stopping them."
"You know what, I'm tired of this," ranted Jazzy. "I'm not going to shoot any heads right now since I don't have my weapons, but I ask all of you to stand down. I can contact Poppy and Branch anytime right now."
Charleston lost focus and looked back at the missile launcher from the unconscious Gulf Digger nearby her. Quickly, she bent down and grabbed it.
"You may try," said Bruce, focusing on Jazzy's face. "But I want a serious challenge. You had been really fun to fight with, remember? Why don't we have a night of action now?"
Charleston, who thought that Bruce was talking to her as well, shrugged.
"Okie dokie!" she said cheerfully.
"Upon my word, I'm not in the mood for beating you up again, Bruce. You did me wrong and maybe I can just do that again right up your…" Jazzy paused when she saw Charleston standing up and aiming her borrowed missile launcher. "CHARLESTON! WAIT!"
"WA-HOO!" whooped Charleston as she pressed the button.
A missile, colored in gold and brown, went shooting out and flew towards the Midnight Hawks. Riptide pulled Rhea out of the way while Chestnut quickly tackled Bruce to the ground. However, the missile flew past them, turned around and flew towards something more dangerous than itself.
The shelf full of alcoholic drinks.
BOOM!
It should be a miracle that nobody died or was thrown out, but it happened so quickly that nobody noticed how much the blue fire now spread throughout the place. The bar table and shelf are completely on fire and the fire is spreading onto the ceiling. It doesn't help that the tables are burning as well, adding to the flames. It is already getting hard to smoke.
The unconscious Gulf Diggers aren't harmed in the second explosion.
However, what was harmed was Bruce's patience.
"Ergh!" he groaned, shaking his jacket. "That does it!"
Jazzy shot Charleston a look. "Really? Did you think THAT through?"
"Nope," said Charleston with a smile. "I thought that was the whole point of fighting!"
"When fighting, you don't really go headfirst too much."
But neither of the two Swing Trolls have the time to discuss as the Midnight Hawks already took some of their weapons out to fire.
Riptide and Rhea quickly took cover and brought out what appeared to be toy-like guns coated in dark blue and white paint. They fired and green-apple-shaped projectiles shot out towards the two Swing Trolls. Jazzy quickly pulled Charleston out of the way and underneath a table as the projectiles exploded into green gas, blowing back anything that wasn't tied down.
"What the heck is that?!" shouted Charleston.
Rhea smirked as she spun around her gun. "Apple Blast Minigun. Very effective, explosive…" She took a sniff from the smoke leaving the mouth of her gun. "And delicious."
"We actually stole them," commented Riptide while still firing.
"Why am I not fooled by their messy paintings?" grumbled Jazzy before leaping upwards.
She started to run towards the Midnight Hawks and her first boss is Chestnut. The Country Troll jumped over a table and threw the first punch. It landed a hit onto Jazzy, but she quickly rubbed her face and spun around as another punch flew by. Chestnut rolled her eyes as she hopped upwards and used all four feet to try to kick Jazzy. This succeeded and the Chess Master went flying back before quickly landing on the floor.
"And everyone says that horses only use all four legs for riding!" taunted Chestnut.
While Jazzy and Chestnut duked it out, Charleston was left with Rhea and Riptide who relentlessly fired on her. The brown Swing Troll quickly dodged the incoming green apple projectiles, running from her cover to the other side of the room. She had to quickly roll on the ground when the projectiles nearly hit her face. They were too dangerously close and would have blown her away if any one of them actually hit her.
Unfortunately, she had no idea what else to do when she stopped herself from hitting the wall.
Without breaking a sweat, Rhea shot another projectile at her.
It went fast, like a baseball.
Gasping, Charleston quickly lifted up her cane like a bat and whacked the projectile towards Riptide.
With quick thinking and cunning, the black Techno Troll grabbed the projectile - which didn't explode on being grabbed - swung around and threw it back at Charleston.
This time, the brown Swing Troll simply stepped aside as it crashed into a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall, but surprisingly, it didn't blow it up.
"Hah!" said Charleston mockingly. "Is that all you got?"
"No," said Riptide with a smug smirk. "But that is not all."
Charleston raised an eyebrow before hearing the unmistakable sound of the hissing fire extinguisher.
Blowing out white smoke from its muzzle at a bullet-fast pace, it shot out and went flying across the room. It even managed to take out some of the random blue fires around! At last, it became a dead set on Charleston.
She realized that she is screwed.
Without even saying a word, she quickly ran off while the flying fire extinguisher, like an actual heat seeker, chased after her to blow her up. She tried to lose it by sprinting fast, rolling under tables and recklessly jumping over the fires around her. However, the fire extinguisher seemed to have a mind of its own as it wasn't fazed by the chaos going around.
"I could watch this all day!" said Riptide, deciding to sit back on a chair.
"Don't switch your tone yet," said Rhea, still trying to shoot the panicking Charleston. "They are not down yet."
Meanwhile, Jazzy and Chestnut grabbed each other's hands as if trying to push each other down. The Chess Master grunted as she tried to, leaning backwards. Chestnut grinned sadistically, enjoying this. While Jazzy has an average strength to at least lift up a box of heavy turnips, the Country Troll is too strong and seemingly did more weight lifting than she did.
To put it simple, Jazzy is nearly too skinny.
However, she caught a screaming Charleston running towards her from behind with the flying fire extinguisher chasing after her.
Connecting the dots, Jazzy let go and ducked.
Chestnut is confused by this.
Charleston accidentally tripped over Jazzy, but luckily the fire extinguisher was flying straight.
It hit square into Chestnut's stomach and miracly, sent her flying around the bar. The Country Troll had no time to react before the fire extinguisher apparently exploded and threw her towards Riptide. The two ended up in a sprawling mess as they crashed into the wall.
Bruce's eyes widened at this before rolling his shoulders around. He isn't going to be left out on this, even if that means getting himself hurt.
Charleston quickly got up, helping Jazzy to get up.
"Oh hi!" said Charleston cheerfully as if forgetting about her near-death chase. "How's it going?"
"By Jove, Charleston!" roared Jazzy before snatching her cane.
"Wait, what are you doing?!"
Jazzy took no time to tell her companion as she went running towards Bruce. She let out a battle cry before swinging the cane at Bruce.
However, it only had the strength like slapping a fish on someone's face in which Jazzy did that. [3s]
It didn't really work on the Classical Troll who barely stopped floating.
He gave Jazzy a deadpanned look.
Jazzy just stared back, stupefied.
Within moments, the Chess Master is thrown outside through one of the windows, hitting the sharp and sandy ground below her. Bruce flew out of the window, crossing his arms to try to look intimidating.
"You still got a lot of young energy you have there, Chess Master," he said. "I'm surprised that you are still working for the Pop Leaders. But you sticking on their idea for peace like a lollipop just became so tasteless, hasn't it for you?"
"Shut it!" said Jazzy.
"'Shut it'? Is that all you can say? Well, you can try to shut me up, but you can't really shut up every troublemaker who is gonna come here as well."
Back inside, Charleston was left with the other three Midnight Hawks. Despite the blue fires closing in, the trio surrounded her like crows about to feed on their next dead feast. She gulped, looking around for a weapon. Without even thinking properly, she took out a wooden stick that was already on fire and waved it around. [2]
"Stand back!" she said. "I'm warning you!"
"Oh, don't worry," said Riptide darkly. "You won't even have to worry about dying here when we put you out of your misery."
"W-What do you even want from all of this in the end?! It's not as if...all the Trolls put you on the wrong foot...or song that is, heh, heh."
Charleston noticed how incredibly lame that is, especially with her still unease with the Rock Trolls.
"It's not all about what they did when you look at it," said Chestnut with a frown. "It is about looking at the facts and how one feels about how they are being used against. After all, it takes one person to understand what one feels about this crappy society."
"But...isn't all the Trolls reuniting all together a good thing?" asked Charleston nervously. "Nobody is going to hurt anyone again!"
"The Rock Trolls did harm to everyone during the World Tour. And Chaz nearly hypnotized everywhere here."
Charleston gulped again, but her throat felt dry. "Oh...right…"
"It would be a shame that we have to kill you," said Chestnut, having a lack of empathy. "But you are on the leaders' side after all. You are in kahoots with them. Even if you are just wondering off like a dumb girl with a good heart. But you see, this is the life of crime."
She slowly took out a dagger, catching the shine of it menacingly.
"And in the life of crime, people need to have good weapons to defend themselves…" Chestnut's frown remained as her eyes went dull in dullness. "And is THAT supposed to be a fireproof weapon?"
Charleston blinked before looking at the burning stick she was holding. No kidding, it was burning, but it was already completely on blue fire. And close to her hand. She let out a scream as she dropped it and swung her hand around which had a little flame on it, trying to put it out. Immediately, he stuffed it in her mouth.
"Now that is entertaining!" said Riptide, lifting up his minigun. "Too bad we have to cut it short now." [2s]
SHING!
His smile dropped when he saw half of his minigun was sliced in half with the top half falling off, rendering it useless. What seemed to be a string hanging over his broken gun. The first end on the string is attached to a blue and purple dagger that is skewered into the wall. The other end of the string is tied around a finger of a Techno Troll who was at the door.
And that was Finn, twirling the string around his finger.
"What the funk?!" said Tidepool, baffled.
"I don't think any of you are going to leave anyone right here, mate," growled Finn, his autotune voice on and deadly.
Charleston gasped, happy to see her knight in armor. "Blue jay! You saved me!"
"P-Please don't call me that," said Finn, a sweat drop rolling down his face nervously.
"Did you tied yourself and your knife to one string?" asked Rhea, raising an eyebrow.
"Why yes," said Finn as he yanked his hand...only to realize that the string refused to budge.
The dagger was already stuck in the wall, refusing to come out. No matter how hard Finn tried to pull, the dagger attached to the string refused to budge.
Rhea groaned and grabbed the string, using it to pull Finn forwards. The Trap Techno Troll yelped as he was pulled over and he quickly tried to float upwards to avoid the blue fires. He found himself in the same spot as Charleston, but close to the mouth of Rhea's minigun on his forehead.
"Nice move, really," said Rhea bluntly as she glared at Finn.
However, Finn used this as one last chance to pull out the dagger...and it worked!
CLONK!
He pulled so hard that it went flying out from the wall and sliced through Rhea's minigun! It suffered the same fate as Riptide's. The Rock Troll could stare at her sliced gun in stunned silence. [3]
Charleston quickly used this short moment to attack, kicking Rhea in the face. Finn wasted no time and tried to swing his dagger right at Chestnut and Riptide nearby. The latter two quickly got out of the way and Riptide tried to charge in. The black Techno Troll tried to grab hold of Finn's dagger, but the Trap Techno Troll hung on, getting in a tug-of-war. Meanwhile, Charleston scuffled around with Rhea before grabbing her by the legs and throwing her right at a charging Chestnut.
Back outside, Jazzy was already onto Bruce. She started trying to throw punches, kicks and special fighting combos. However, the Classical Troll just kept dodging with a calm look. He doesn't look bored anymore, but he had a stoic look. He doesn't even fly up and stayed at near ground level with the Chess Master. After a while, Bruce just spun around and kicked Jazzy in the face.
"You really got a lot of training, I have to say," said Bruce. "This is wasting my time. Unless you can stun me, then it's obvious you don't have your talent here now."
Before Jazzy could fire back with a snarky comeback, a wooden spear was stabbed in the middle between the two. Her eyes widened before they shifted towards the source of the thrower.
Bastille.
An exhausted, panting Branch as if he just ran a marathon.
He didn't look happy. He held onto the wooden spear tightly. He didn't expect a criminal to be attacking at Country Corral tonight. He thought that everything would be normal! But somehow, Jazzy and Charleston stupidly got into this mess.
Bruce blinked, thinking back again to Branch trapping him in his hair. He nearly got captured that quickly that time. The Classical Troll decided to play it cool, crossing his arms.
"I'm surprised you are able to show up," said Bruce. "Not a lot of people are able to travel from one place to another."
"Well, yeah," said Bastille. "But I had to get myself and Finn out of the restaurant when we heard a huge explosion and he was getting worried about Jazzy. And I think he should be here to see this."
Bruce squinted his eyes to analyze the Indie Alternative Troll. "You're Bastille. That Indie Alternative traveller?"
"Yeah, what's the deal?"
"I've heard of you before. I'm surprised you decided to settle here. I thought you were still on another adventure."
"Let's not dilly dally," said Bastille. "I ask for you to stand down now. That includes you, Jazzy."
"What?! But I didn't do anything!" said Jazzy.
"Said the Chess Master; a bounty hunter."
"Both of you stop!" [3s]
It is at that moment when Bastille finds himself in a tight spot. Mentally a tight spot. There is a bar that was burning and he could smell the smoke. Somebody could be burning alive in there! Charleston is probably still in there! And since he isn't there to see how it started, he isn't sure who to blame. Either Jazzy or that criminal Bruce during their fight. Because of the stress, he confused himself.
Whatever the case, he isn't safe anymore. This is just like the World Tour again. Something is burning and someone is to blame for it. With the pressure of dealing with two people capable of combat, Bastille may have to make the right choice first to prevent any of them ripping each other to pieces.
"J-Jazzy," he said quietly. "I'm sorry...is that guy responsible for this?"
Jazzy nodded grimly.
Bastille stared at Bruce. He knows the answer to this, but he wants to ask first."Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" Bruce laughed at Bastille's confusion. "How come someone so clueless is not aware that TrollsTopia is finally open to everyone?"
"You're just...hurting others. That is a bloody thing."
"Yes, I do," said Bruce with a smug look. "But you would eventually have to admit; you have insulted others before in the past."
Bastille sputtered. "I'm not the one who has the guns and bombs around my belt, mister! And what are you exactly trying to do?"
"I'm not gonna let my own voice down. Every Troll should be free to do whatever they want, am I right, Jazzy?" Bruce gave Jazzy a brief but meaningful glare. "I want the power. I want drama! And I am making one of them come true soon! It's every Troll for themselves now or it should be!"
Bastille narrowed his eyes. "So you don't really care about the other tribes or the harmony around here?"
"No. I only used it to give me a much bigger window."
The Indie Alternative Troll hissed to himself. Damn, that Classical Troll must be pretty more selfish than the other Trolls!
"Your window is going to close soon right now," said Jazzy lowly. "Someday, someone is going to erase whatever screwed up ideas you have in your head. Your criminal career is not going to continue!"
Bruce only chuckled, closing his eyes.
Bastille felt offended. "What's so funny?"
"You called game way too early," whispered Bruce.
POW!
It happened so quickly that Bastille isn't sure why he had his eyes closed. His vision is blurry. There is pain throbbing in the back of his head. He feels the uncomfortable, sandy ground beneath him. His ears are ringing. He could Jazzy, her eyes as wide as pies by the sudden smack across their faces.
Bastille couldn't hear anything. He could hear Bruce muttering something and another deep voice berating him. Then, there is a pair of footsteps rushing inside the bar…
Back inside, Charleston and Finn managed to pull the unconscious bodies of the Gulf Diggers out of the bar. Because of how large the fire grew and how dangerous it became, they lost track of the rest of the Midnight Hawks who seemingly blended into the smoke. Charleston rushed back inside to find the last Gulf Digger.
"You're sure that he is somewhere around here?" yelled Finn from outside. "It is getting hazy there!"
Charleston coughed, trying to get through the flames. It is getting increasingly hot inside and she couldn't breath well. She tried to hold onto her breath to reduce the likelihood of inhaling too much smoke. However, her mind is nearly breaking down due to the humidness of the bar already. She couldn't answer back to Finn.
And at last, she found the last Gulf Digger. She quickly grabbed his body before his feet caught on fire.
"Don't worry, little buddy," thought Charleston cheerfully. "I will get you back out alive!"
Though, she reminded herself that she is saving the life of a new criminal, but it is at least worth saving.
Something cracked from above.
Charleston looked around.
Blue fire and dangling pieces of wood were all she saw.
Why did it become quiet?
Why did she hear...metallic breathing?
She turned around to view what looked like a robot. [4]
Close to a metal mask.
SOMEONE wearing a metal mask to be precise.
A highly reflective full helmet the size of a Troll's head, covering up the eyes, ears and hair. Charleston got to admit that it looked pretty impressive with its shape. There is an arrow-shaped light that goes over the forehead and eyes of the head, glowing a mysterious orange color.
The rest of the suit confused Charleston as this Troll is wearing a full-body metal suit. Their torso is covered by a suit of silver armor that is highly reflective. The torso, arms and hands are all covered with metal plates. However, while looking buff, they looked flexible enough to move around. The rest of the clothing are just a pair of black track pants with several straps of bullets, knives and bombs attached to them, and a pair of black boots with orange half untied laces.
The armored Troll said one word in a deep voice.
"Boo."
Immediately, they took out a sword and swung.
Charleston squealed and jumped back.
The armored Troll kept trying to slice Charleston, but it seemed that they are targeting the Gulf Digger in her hands. Charleston is out of her mind in fear, trying to get back from the armored Troll while not paying attention to the flames around her.
As a matter of fact, the two of them nearly forgot that the whole place was burning down.
It is only when a huge piece from the wooden ceiling support beams fell down and separated them. The fire flared upwards in a magnificent cyan color, making it impossible for any of them to jump over it. And the tables surrounding them made it impossible for the armored Troll to just walk around the fire wall.
Charleston stared at the armored Troll, wondering who was inside. She tried to take a look at their body language, but they didn't appear as lively or energetic. However, she felt that this guy isn't exactly emotionless.
They looked like dead business.
DEAD straight business.
The armored Troll stared at Charleston for a while before stepping back and disappeared into the glow of the blue fires. [4s]
Charleston shook her head and got herself back into reality, now feeling as if her skin is on fire. The flames are too close to her. She immediately ran away and found the exit.
By the time she got out, she saw five shadow silhouettes jumping from the bar roof and across every building. She thought of where they are going, but they disappeared after jumping off one of the buildings. Drats. She lost the Midnight Hawks. She is about to face a nail-biting Finn when she heard a huge rumble behind her.
With just a peek over her shoulder, she saw the entire bar collapsing. Finally consumed by the poisonous, blue fire, it crumbled like a house of cards with the wood losing its structure or simply reducing into splinters and ashes. As everything fell apart, it created another explosion. Smaller than the one before, but equally deadly for anyone who stepped too clear from it.
Several Country Trolls now ran towards the burning bar, chattering in fear amongst themselves. A group of them came to it with buckets of water, trying to put it out before it reached the other buildings.
Charleston managed to take a look through the fire and saw Bastille and Jazzy getting up, dazed and shocked.
She sighed. Nobody died in this fire. She could hear the Gulf Diggers groaning as they finally came to their senses. Too bad the Midnight Hawks and the armored Troll got away. Since nobody smelt any burning flesh, it became too clear that they went out scot-free without being arrested immediately. One fight and they walked away.
Charleston started if Desdemona might be right after all.
AN: Any guesses on how they predicted the trouble that is going to come to the table? No. We'll have to just wait and see!~
Here, I reintroduce Bruce Ritardando and his new team 'the Midnight Hawks'! A pretty sweet title, don't you think? Special thanks to MasterClass60 for helping me create them. They are going to be fun to write about! That is what I am certain for sure!
1) We got Bruce Ritardando; the Classical Troll and the leader of the group. Malicious, trouble-making, slick and wise. I like to think of him as the laid-back leader who wants to cause chaos in TrollsTopia, but here, he will have some trouble handling his new team. Like the weary babysitter of a bunch of boxed crooks. He would be voiced by Danny Trejo.
2) We got Riptide Whirlpool; the Techno Troll and the spy/speedster of the group. If I am not wrong, probably the first black-skinned Techno Troll created on the FanFiction and for the reason why me and MasterClass60 made it like that is for a plot point later in this story. He is tough, young and free-spirited, like a prankster. He would be voiced by Johnathan Groff.
3) We got Chestnut McClash; a Country Troll and the ruthless and strong fighter of the group. She acts as a bit of a mom to the group, sometimes going along with what her teammates say or drawing the line. She is probably the second oldest with Bruce being the oldest. She would be voiced by LeAnne Rimes.
4) Finally, we got Rhea Rockout; a Rock Troll and the blunt hacker and tech expert of the group. She is the opposite of Riptide; flat, deadpanned and usually burnt out, looking really unnerved several times. She probably has this weariness around her while sharing a little bit of fun with Riptide. She would be voiced by Demi Lovato.
P.S. This is without bias, but I love Riptide and Rhea.
The entire bar scene with the Midnight Hawks takes elements from Episode 1+2 of Sunset Paradise, the pilot of Cliffside and the rocket launching part from The Suicide Squad. You can see that the Midnight Hawks are not your typical, stereotypical criminals; they may appear dark and are all tough. However, they have good personalities and you can tell that they don't always take their jobs seriously, acting like decent (not-so-decent due to what they are doing) civilians. Writing the banter and conversations between them is really fun! And the reason why I chose the fire to be blue because...I don't to use the orange, fiery, threatening glow. I want to try something different and something a bit magical to show that all of this still takes place in TrollsTopia.
And the mercenary 'Grunge' who makes their first appearance...well, I can't give all away, can I? All I can say is that this is a dangerous criminal with a mysterious background and a complex personality.
Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames). However, it will take me a while to get the next chapter up due to exam study. Any questions, please ask me through PMs.
Until next time, keep on rocking!