Hello, all my friends. Back with yet another chapter. This will be one I'm sure some of you are excited for. The Company will confront the trolls in this chapter. I hope you guys like how I do this chapter.

Let's get to it.


Chapter 6- Troll Battle

Steve sighs a bit as he climbs over a ridge. The Company has been on the road for days. Although he can keep up with the Company with ease, just trekking across the landscape of this land, the Trollshaws as he has heard it called, can get boring when there's nothing but walking all day. Then again, the name Trollshaws does not inspire confidence, even though Trolls have not been reported in the area for a long time, Gandalf told him.

As the Company clears the ridge, Thorin calls out, "We stop here for the night!" Steve looks up ahead and sees the remains of a farm just uphead.

Steve feels a little concerned. Once Gandalf dismounts from his horse, he and Steve together approach the farm.

The rest of the Company dismount their ponies and start moving to set up camp for the night. Bucky and T'Challa were helping, but eying the ruins of the farm house warily.

As Gandalf and Steve enter the ruins of the farm house, Gandalf says in a low voice, "A farmer and his family once lived here."

Steve analyzes the house, using his experience from World War II to get an idea of what had happened.

"This couldn't have been an accident. This farm was burned down intentionally. And not too long ago, either," Steve says, his feeling of apprehension slowly growing.

"Yes," Gandalf agrees, also feeling apprehensive. He turns back to the Company and calls out, "I think it would be wise to move on."

Thorin walks over, wondering what Gandalf is so worried about. Gandalf speaks again and voices his idea. "We could make for the Hidden Valley."

Thorin scowls as he enters the ruined house. "I have already told you. I will not go near that place," he says angrily.

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us. And he is the one I intended to help Steve and his friends get home. And why not resupply and get help while we are at it?" Gandalf protests against Thorin's refusal.

"By all means, take Steve and his friends there. I will not go near the people who betrayed my father and grandfather," Thorin says angrily.

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hang onto the past," Gandalf says in irritation.

"I did not know they were yours to keep," Thorin shoots back.

Gandalf glares at Thorin for a moment before stomping off towards his horse. Bilbo looks at him in worry and asks, "Where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got real sense," Gandalf says.

"And who's that?" Bilbo asks innocently.

"Myself, Bilbo Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day," Gandalf declares.

Bilbo and some of the dwarves look worried, particularly because they're worried about Gandalf not coming back. To assuage their fear a bit, T'Challa steps forward and says, "I will accompany you, Gandalf."

Gandalf turns his head and looks at T'Challa for a moment before responding with a curt, "Fine." He then climbs up onto his horse and rides away, T'Challa easily keeping pace with him as the two disappear over a ridge.


(Hours later)

Steve and Bucky lean against a wall of the ruined farmhouse, sipping from bowls of stew cooked by Bombur. It's not bad.

The rest of the Company are scattered around the fire, also sipping from stew, except for Fili and Kili, who are watching the ponies, and Bilbo, who had just left to take some stew to them.

Bucky turns to Steve and asks, "So, what are we going to do? If Thorin refuses to go to this Elrond that Gandalf thinks can help get us home, then how are we going to get home?"

"I'm not sure, Bucky. I'm just hoping that Gandalf can reason with Thorin," Steve says.

A moment later, Balin walks over and sits down beside them. "How are you ladies?" he asks.

"Still as good as ever, Balin," Steve responds. Balin smiles and nods.

"I have to ask you, Balin. Why does Thorin seems to hate Elves so much?" Bucky asks in a low voice.

Balin glances over towards Thorin quickly before returning his gaze to Steve and Bucky. "Relations have been somewhat strained between Elves and Dwarves for many centuries. They had begun to improve between our people and the Elves of the Woodland Realm. When Smaug took Erebor, their king, Thranduil, brought some of his armies to give aid. But when he arrived, he decided it was not worth the risk, and he turned back. Thorin has never forgiven the Elves for that," Balin explains.

Steve and Bucky nod slightly. From what they have seen of Thorin's attitude, they can see why he would hold such a powerful grudge for so long.

Suddenly, running footsteps hit their ears. They all look up and see Fili and Kili running towards them, looking concerned.

"Fili! Kili! You're supposed to be watching the ponies," Thorin says.

"We know! Except we've got a problem!" Kili responds. Everyone freezes and stares at the two brothers.

Thorin narrows his eyes. "What kind of problem?" he demands.

"Trolls," Kili responds. The dwarves look somewhat alarmed.

"There are a couple of trolls in the trees back there. They've taken four of our ponies and want to eat them. Bilbo has gone to see if he can free the ponies, but we need to do something," Fili says urgently.

Thorin waits for a moment, then nods. "Right," he says simply before turning to the Company and ordering, "Let's go."

The dwarves scramble for their weapons. Steve and Bucky look at each other for a moment. "Man. I really wish I had some guns right now. My knife may not do much against trolls," Bucky says.

"Hey, we've got a bunch of dwarves backing us up. I think we can take 'em," Steve says.

"Let's move!" Thorin orders, and the Company storms into the trees, Steve and Bucky following them closely.


Bilbo ducks under one of William's arms, only to be grabbed by Tom, who calls out, "Gotcha!"

Tom holds Bilbo up by his leg, holding a broken knife up to Bilbo. "Now, are there any more of you fellows hiding where you shouldn't?" he demands.

"Nope," Bilbo responds quickly.

William steps up behind Bilbo and declares, "He's lying." "No, I'm not," Bilbo tries to protest, but it doesn't convince the trolls.

William likes right at Tom and says, "Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal!"

Bilbo starts to panic. That is, until Kili jumps out the bushes at slashes at William's leg. The troll stumbles back, and Kili shouts, "Drop him!"

"You what?" Tom responds.

Kili spins his sword a bit before saying in a very fierce voice, "I said…Drop him."

Tom growls a bit before throwing Bilbo at Kili. Kili grabs him and cushions his fall, right before Thorin charges out of the trees, the rest of the dwarves following him, and Steve and Bucky bringing up the rear.

The dwarves attack with their swords, axes, clubs, and other weapons. Steve leaps up, his Wakandan shields extended, and delivers a punch right to William's chest that punctures the skin. Bucky vaults off the big cauldron over the fire and delivers a powerful punch to Bert's face before slashing his cheek with his knife.

Steve and Bucky fight with all they've got, switching targets every couple of seconds, trying hard to keep alert. The trolls don't have any weapons, but their thick skin is almost as good as armor, and their arms, with how strong they are, are as dangerous as any club.

For about a minute, the dwarves and the two Americans weave among each other, striking whenever they can, expertly staying out of the trolls' way. Finally, the trolls manage to get some hits in, knocking several dwarves flying back. Thorin hurries to their side, and the rest of the Company, Steve and Bucky included. They help their fallen friends to their feet, then turn to re-engage. Only to be met by a horrifying sight.

"Biblo!" Kili shouts in alarm, trying to run towards him. Steve grabs him and holds him back, staring at Bilbo, who's being held by Bert and Tom by the arms and legs. Tom looks at them and says, "Lay down your arms…or we'll rip his off."

Bilbo stares at the Company, wondering what they're going to do. Finally, after several tense moments, Thorin drops his sword. The Company looks at him, then follows his example, and they all begin dropping their weapons. Feeling impressed by Thorin's decision, but feeling furious with the Dwarves, Steve retracts his shields, then slips them off. At the same time, Bucky, while glaring at the trolls, throws down his knife.

The trolls move quickly. Most of the dwarves they tie to a spit they hand over the fire, while sticking Thorin, Oin, Kili, Bombur, Balin, Gloin, Fili, Bilbo, Steve, and Bucky in sacks that they toss to the ground behind William's seat.

The trolls quickly stoke the fire under the dwarves, drawing several cries from them due to the heat. William, thinking they're not doing it right, speaks up and says, "Don't bother cooking 'em. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly."

Bert shakes his head a bit and replies, "They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage," as he sprinkles some sage over the dwarves.

"Oh, that does sound quite nice," William says as he thinks that over. The dwarves continue to protest this, while Steve and Bucky turn to look at each other.

"What are we gonna do, Steve? I didn't go through everything I have to end up as dinner for a troll," Bucky whispers.

"I'm not sure. I'm thinking," Steve says.

As he says this, Tom, who's getting impatient, says, "Forget the seasoning. We ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away. I don't fancy being turned to stone."

Steve perks up at that. There's some helpful information. As he thinks how he can maybe exploit that, Bilbo suddenly pipes up and says to the trolls, "Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!"

Steve looks at Bilbo in confusion as Dori calls to Bilbo, "You can't reason with 'em. They're half-wits!"

"Half-wits? What does that make us?!" Bofur says in protest as Bilbo manages to get to his feet.

Bilbo hops a few feet towards the trolls, saying, "I meant with the..uh…with…with the seasoning."

Bert, who's used to doing the cooking, steps away from the spit and looks at Bilbo curiously. "What about the seasoning?" he asks curiously.

"Well, have you smelt them?" Bilbo asks as if the problem should be obvious, "You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up!"

The dwarves start protesting against Bilbo's seeming betrayal, but Steve starts to grin, starting to realize what he's planning.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" Tom says, skeptical of Bilbo.

Bert holds up a hand and says, "Quiet. Let the, uh, flurgaburburahobbit talk."

Bilbo nods once as he says, "Uh, the secret to cooking dwarf is, ummm."

Bilbo pauses, thinking. Bert, eager to hear Bilbo's secret, asks anxiously, "Yes?! Come on. Tell us the secret."

Bilbo, feigning annoyance at the interruption, replies, "Yes! I'm telling you, the secret is…" He pauses, glancing towards Thorin and the dwarves in the sacks, before turning back to the trolls and finishing with, "Toooo…skin them first!"

Thorin and the others start shouting in protest, and a stream of death threats starts being thrown at Bilbo. Steve and Bucky, however, look at each other and grin, knowing what Bilbo is trying to do. However, they secretly worry that Bilbo might not be able to distract the trolls again before they try Bilbo's suggestion.

Bert grins, ready to give it a try. He grins and motions behind him, calling to Tom, "Tom, get me filleting knife."

Tom is not convinced. "What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scarf 'em I say, boots and all," he says.

Right then, Bilbo and Steve both notice Gandalf moving through some bushes on the ridge overlooking the clearing. But, right then, William pipes up and says, "He's right." He then walks over the dwarves in the sacks while saying, "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf."

William grabs Bombur and hoists him over his head. "Nice and crunchy," he says before opening his mouth, ready to devour Bombur.

Fear starts to take Steve. Determined to save Bombur, he is about to try and break out of the sack. But Bilbo reacts quickly and hurriedly cries, "No, not that one! He's infected!"

William looks at Bilbo in alarm. "You what?' Tom says.

"Yeah, he's got worms…in his…tubes," Bilbo says, trying to make it sound as though her actually knows what he's talking about.

Not wanting to get sick, William drops Bombur. Bilbo quickly follows up by saying, "In fact they all have. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't."

The trolls look uncertain. Still not catching on, the dwarves are outraged at the claim. After some grumbling among them, Kili turns to Bilbo and shouts, "We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"

Bilbo sighs in frustration. Steve and Bucky want to tell off the dwarves for ruining Bilbo's plan. But, Thorin finally realizes what he's up to. He looks up at Bilbo, then smacks the other Dwarves with a hip bump. The dwarves quickly shut up, look at Thorin, the back at the trolls before Oin says, "I've got parasites as big as my arm."

"Mine are the biggest parasites. I've got huge parasites!" Kili adds. This starts all the dwarves in claiming they're riddled with parasites.

Tom steps up towards Bilbo. "What would you have us do then? Let 'em all go?"

"Well," Bilbo says, pretending to give the matter some thought.

"You think I don't know what you're up to?" Tom demands, poking him as he does.

Suddenly, a dark form leaps over the massive boulder next to the dwarves, landing near them. He stands, revealing him to be T'Challa, fully decked out in the Black Panther suit. He then jumps forward and kicks Tom in the chest, knocking him back as T'Challa lands beside Bilbo.

All the dwarves stare in amazement at T'Challa, not having seen the Black Panther suit yet. T'Challa stares at Tom from behind his mask, "Nobody touches our burglar."

Tom stands back up, glaring at T'Challa. But, before he can do anything, Gandalf walks up to the edge of the boulder T'Challa jumped down from, bellowing, "The dawn will take you all!"

Everyone in the clearing stares at Gandalf. "Who's that?" Tom asks.

"No idea," Bert responds. "Can we eat him too?" Williams asks.

Right then, Gandalf raises his staff, then slams it down into the boulder, splitting it in half, allowing light from the rising sun to stream into the clearing.

The trolls cries out in pain, as if the sunlight is fire burning their skin. Their skin starts turning gray, and within moments, the trolls fall still, no longer living trolls, but stone statues.

Everyone looks at the trolls, not sure what to think for a moment. Then, cheers and laughter start to echo through the clearing. Steve and Bucky smile.

As Steve lies there, he thinks to himself, Nobody back home is going to believe this.


I'll end there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I had T'Challa go with Gandalf because I feel the Avengers would want one of them to go with him. Plus, I felt it was the best way to even the odds for the trolls. And I felt it wasn't too far-fetched for Steve and Bucky to follow Thorin's example, especially Steve. They would not want to be the reason Bilbo was ripped to shreds.

I took the opportunity at the end to introduce the dwarves to the Black Panther. I thought it would be a nice chance.

Next chapter should be up in a week. I may have a lot more time on my hands, due to a sprained ankle, so I'll be able to write a lot more.

Until next time, please review, and stay tuned.