Ben and the others walked through campus noticing the glares and whispers directed towards them, Ben overheard a boy and girl whispering "is that Sophia Briggar with Arnold Schmidt?" The girl nodded "and Mason Dorris, who's the guy with them?" Ben ignored the rest of the conversation but was suddenly stopped by a large hand and a familiar voice "hey Mason, you with these people?" Ben saw that it was Harvey "yeah, we're gonna get some pizza, you wanna join?" Harvey hesitated "u-uh, no thanks man" Harvey went his way and Ben commented "wow, a chance to hang out with his crush and he rejects, I guess the caste system of this school has it's roots deep". Sophia laughed "yeah, not even lovestruck Harvey would dare mess with it this much".
Meanwhile in a Boxing Gym on the other side of town
inside the dimly lit gym was a man working a punching bag when he was interrupted by someone coming in "we're closed right now, come back tomorrow" the man said "oh, I think you can make an exception for me" the man turned to see a large figure in the shadows "Pangolin! It's good to see you, look I don't have the money but I'm close, I just need to win my next fight and-" Pangolin stopped him "I'm not here about the money Johnny, I'm here to offer you a job, and one of my Miraculous" Johnny looked perplexed "don't you only loan out the Miraculous when you wanna-?" Pangolin cut him off again "to whack someone, I got someone who needs a good wallop and I believe you are the one man for the job" Johnny kept working the bag "can't you get another one of your thugs to do it?" Pangolin approached Johnny "they ain't got the skills, you do, and if you do this job, all your debts will be paid, if not" Pangolin reeled back and struck the bag causing it to bust open and fly off the chain. Pangolin snapped his fingers and Jeffords emerged from the shadows with an open brief case holding a number of Miraculous "take your pick Mr. Mcgonnal" Johnny picked one up and asked "do I say anything?" Jeffords shook his head "just put it on when you need it" Pangolin instructed "you are gonna whack the new hero Beowulf, cause some ruckus to lure him out" Pangolin and Jeffords left leaving Johnny alone in the spotlight.
Back to Ben and friends
Ben and the others arrived at a small brick building with a sign that had a man tossing pizza dough and the name 'Ray's Pizza' on it "this place's pizza was the first thing I ate when I got here, haven't actually gone inside though" Ben stated as he opened the door for the others, Ben felt a cold gust of wind that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Ben snapped his head to the street to see nothing, a rough voice came from the restaurant, it was the owner "hey, close the door kid!" Ben slowly walked in and closed the door where he saw his friends already seated. Ben sat down with them, a waiter came over "okay, what is everyone feeling?" Sophia was first "I'll take a slice of-" Ben tuned out the chatter of the others and focused all of his attention outside, he could smell trouble in the air, nothing like Skorpoxus, but was malicious in its own way, a quick shoulder shake from Sophia brought him back "hey Ben, what's up with you?" Ben looked at her and reassured her "I'm fine, I just thought I saw something, I'll have a slice of Pepperoni please".
The Group began conversating as they ate, Sophia looked at Ben an asked him "so Ben, where are you from?" Ben responded "oh I'm from Michigan, my dad moved here for work" Sophia questioned further "what is Michigan like, I've never been" Ben sipped his water "cold...so no different from here in weather, the potholes are so big you could fill them up with water and make a swimming pool" the others laughed with Mason adding on "I bet in Michigan you don't have to deal with streets more packed than a can of nasty sardines" the sudden slap of a Butcher Knife in the kitchen signaled that Ray heard that with Arnold responding "I am sure your sardines are fresh and tasty Ray" Ben laughed "definitely, but hey atleast this place's slogan isn't 'DON'T DRINK THE WATER!'" the whole table erupted in laughter that disturbed the neighboring tables a bit. Ben calmed down and looked at his halfway finished slice "truth is, I really do miss my old home, this place is so different it's kinda crazy, so many people going in so many different directions. Nothing like Michigan where you know everyone on your street by name and can ask them for a cup of sugar at 12 in the morning no problem".
Arnold decided to speak up "I have read that homesickness is very common for people who have recently moved, it is reccomended to experience new things in your new environment" Ben added "like hanging out with new and really cool people?" Sophia was touched by this statement and hugged Ben "thank you Ben!" Ben laughed and said "I'm serious though, you guys are really cool for going against the grain just to hang out with me" Mason responded "don't sweat it, honestly this is the most fun I've had in a while" Sophia decided to tease him "Mason Dorris the Mailbox Destroyer having fun being civilized?" Mason scoffed and took another bite of his pizza. Arnold decided to open up a bit "I too have never truly fit in, not many people share my interests so I have been an outcast for as long as I have been at Greenville" Ben added on "that and you avoid contractions like the plague" everyone laughed and Ben stood up "this is the start of something new, I can feel it" Mason stood up aswell "yeah, screw those cliques at school, in this moment, we spat in their faces" Sophia practically jumped up and almost hit the roof "Yeah! To hell with staying in the social line" Arnold stood up aswell "yes, I am not ashamed of my interests and I should not be!". Ben smiled as he looked at the newfound unity of all of them, he felt like he belonged already.
The group paid for their bill and got back onto the street, Mason suddenly burped with everyone backing away "that's gross man" Ben stated with Mason laughing "you were right, that pizza was excellent" Ben was about to ask something when he saw something moving in the corner of his eye, thanks to his heightened reflexes he saw that it was heading toward Sophia and quickly dove and got her to the ground just as the large object flew by and hit the brick wall of Ray's, it was a large metal mailbox. Ben and Sophia looked up to see a large figure in the middle of the street that spoke in a loud voice "I hear the new hero Beowulf calls this part of New York home, if he really is a hero he should come out and go a few rounds with me! If not" the figure uppercutted another mailbox and then puched it towards other people who managed to avoid it but not without someone getting covered in mail. Ben got Sophia up and gestured towards an alleyway "I'll lead him away, you guys go!" Arnold objected "Ben, judging by how this person punched that mailbox, he is far stronger than any human in existence" Ben gave a shaky thumbs up "it's okay guys, I'll be fine" Sophia grabbed Ben's arm "be careful" the others made their way into the alley and Ben went the opposite way to a darker alley where his Kwamis came out of his backpack "okay Prowwl, you're up" Prowwl nodded and got ready "Prowwl! Let's Hunt!" Prowwl was sucked into the Miraculous and Ben became Beowulf once more.
Beowulf noticed his costume was different, he had a long dark blue scarf that also acted as a mask for his mouth, he still had his eye mask but was more sharp and less wild. He no longer had spandex but a full ninja suit, he had blue arm and hand wraps that went all the way to the shoulders and white leg wraps up to his knees, he also had a dark blue sash around his waist. Beowulf studied his costume "wow, this is new" Sturnn went up to him "you have different powers with this suit, go ahead and find out what they are" Beowulf looked at Sturnn "aren't you gonna help me?" Sturnn shook his head "I'm not a teacher".
Beowulf came out of the alleyway and confronted the villain who was in the middle of punching dents in a car "so, who're you and what is with that costume?" The villain turned around, his suit was covered in grey and blond fur and had a furry eyemask, his hands were covered by red boxing gloves, a large tail dragged on the ground and rested behind two large legs that made him taller "just the hero I was looking for, the name's Walloproo" Beowulf let a small laugh escape his mouth which angered Walloproo "seriously? Walloproo? Can you get anymore on the nose? And this is coming from a guy who fought Skorpoxus last week" Walloproo growled and charged forward, Beowulf noticed his speed and was barely able to dodge a swift right hook. Beowulf backflipped and quickly sprang forward hitting Wallop with two consecutive kicks but was blocked when Wallop put up his gloves. Beowulf got in close and threw a straight but Wallop ducked under it and hit Beowulf with an uppercut that made Beowulf drop his guard. Wallop delivered two quick bodyshots to Beowulf making him bend forward, Wallop finished the combo by balancing on his tail and drop kicking Beowulf making him fly down the street and through the glass doors of Ray's. Beowulf crashed into the counter crushing it.
Beowulf regained conciousness to see Ray helping him up "did anyone get the size of those Timberlands?" he shook his head and regained his senses "okay, time to get back out there" Beowulf leaped out to meet Wallop on the street "ready for more hero?" Beowulf cricked his neck "I don't know, are you ready for rupturee eardrums? Sonic Howl!" Beowulf howled but nothing happened "I don't have Sonic Howl?" a right cross from Wallop sent Beowulf skidding across the ground "ouch, noted; in this form I do not have Sonic Howl" Beowulf got up and put up his fists "you stand no chance!" Wallop rushed and began barraging Beowulf with a flurry of punches. Beowulf attempted to get a few jabs in but was no match for the multiple strikes and his guard was quickly broken and was sent upward with a massive uppercut. Wallop bent down and jumped after Beowulf, Wallop quickly rose to Beowulf's height and did a full front flip and axe kicked Beowulf straight into the pavement.
Beowulf dug himself out of the pavement "this is not going well for me" Wallop landed behind him and laughed "you got that right" Beowulf sighed "oh no" before getting kicked out of the crater. Beowulf struggled to get back onto his feet but managed while still being a bit wobbly "okay, plan formulation time, he's faster than me, and he fights better, what do I have? A weapon, Sturnn, what's my weapon?" Sturnn answered "on your back!" Beowulf felt around his hip to find two handles connected to some metal plating behind him "perfect" he grabbed onto them and waited for Wallop to rush. Wallop bounced up and down and finally leaped at Beowulf, Beowulf saw his chance and rushed quickly unsheathing his weapons and striking Wallop while maneuvering to the other side of Wallop. Wallop howled in pain as six large gash marks were present on his chest and Beowulf's weapons were revealed, a pair of bladed claws, three on each hand and were 6 inches in length, they were gleaming silver and didn't even have a stain on them from the strike "whoa, cool! I hope this kind of weapon isn't copyrighted!" Beowulf readied his claws faced the clearly angered Walloproo. Beowulf muttered to himself "Now the real fight begins".
