Tavern Brawls S02 Finale!

“Real smart, provoking the man we knew to be working for the Commissar. Look, I am Abacus. I don’t care about my friend’s life.” The last part was said with such sullen mockery that Abacus couldn’t help but growl just a little at Arwen as he too dragged his spoon around in the unappetizing blubber they had been fed by the prison guard. Arwen had been annoyingly willing to forget his own part in their arrest and after a week of this, Abacus couldn’t stomach neither more arguing nor Arwen’s sour mood. “Shut up will ya? We are out of here by tomorrow.”

Arwen had just opened his mouth to come with a no doubt whining retort, when the prison door was opened and a cloaked figure was thrown to the floor between them. The door had shut when the man rolled onto his back and coughed hard – a little blood running down the corner of his mouth. “Darien?!” The two friends recognized the bloodied and beaten ranger from the Decepticons and rushed to help him sit up to lessen his cough.

“What happened to you?” Both Abacus and Arwen had been on the receiving end of such a beating and their hands were surprisingly gentle as they looked the ranger over – finding only cuts and bruises. As if someone had been careful not to damage him enough that they needed to call for a healer. “The Commissar needs to find better henchmen,” the ranger replied and cleared his mouth of blood by spitting on the floor. “I came here with information to gain her favor… Information that could save her life! But her guards didn’t believe me and they worked me over for not telling the truth.”

“Information?” Arwen looked to Abacus – a twinkle in his eyes that he hadn’t seen for a week. “What information?”

“I overheard Dragovar talking with the Captain after the Brawl.” “The Brawl is over?!” Arwen interrupted in an outraged tone and Abacus elbowed him hard in the ribs. “It is. We won. I won my match, but Dragovar lost his… Dragovar had promised to hand her over.. My sister.. If we did well in the tournament. But…” Darien drew in a shaky breath and then seemed to steel himself to continue his story. “Dragovar thinks I had something to do with him losing. He kept her. He is keeping her somewhere… So I followed him to find out where. And that is when I heard him speak with the Captain. They… They plan to lure the Commissar to the tunnels and then flood them.. They said something about a warehouse they wanted destroyed? And.. And my sister is down there somewhere..! So I came here to get help to stop them. And now I am trapped in this unholy place…”

The ranger seemed almost broken – crushed beneath the weight of the horrible information he carried. But Abacus and Arwen had stopped trying to soothe the man, when the last piece of the puzzle finally found it’s place. “Heinrich wants to kill the Commissar,” Abacus was the first to speak, but Arwen followed suit, “and take out the warehouse at the same time. It would give him back control of the harbor …” – “… and destabilize the City while waiting for a new Commissar to be elected…” Their minds were in sync like they hadn’t been in what felt like weeks. “… and if we save the life of the Commissar, a royal pardon is in our future!”

They both looked at the ranger – who seemed just a smidgen confused – and Abacus sent him a wide smile. “How would you like to save your sister?”

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Few of the City’s inhabitants knew the tunnels as well as Abacus and Arwen did, which was why no one else had ever ventured to dig themselves out of the underground cells of the Town Guard. But that was exactly what the two friends had done since they arrived. The hole, which was only just wide enough for Abacus to squeeze through, only needed a little more work and with their new determination, the three accomplices soon wormed their way out of the cell and flew down the tunnel behind it.

“Which. way. are we going?” Darien forced his lungs to cooperate during his sprint and Arwen who was the most athletic of the remaining two just shook his head and said a single word; “Turtle..”

They had run for another few minutes, when they all stopped dead in their tracks. Just up ahead, they saw a door open and the huge fighter Dragovar appeared, bloodied axe and sword in hand. He locked eyes with Darien, just as Arwen elbowed Abacus and pointed to another branch of the tunnel close by. “Just go,” Darien said and stepped forward – a new calm emanating from him. “I have a score to settle.” The two friends looked at each other for a moment. Then Abacus nodded and they left the ranger behind to finish his task.

Because they knew the location of the warehouse Darien had mentioned, the decision to head for the Tipsy Turtle had been intuitive for both of them. It seemed impossible that it could happen anywhere else and that intuitive feeling also pushed them forward as fast as possible. The two came to a screeching halt at the ladder that lead up to the inn and frantically looked around. When they saw no one, doubt made their hearts beat even faster to the point where their breathing almost drowned out the sound of voices from the tunnel closest to them. They turned the corner so fast that they almost keeled over and was suddenly face to face with the remaining three of the winning team, as well as the Commissar and the Monaghan brothers. The last two stepped forward with a growl as they recognized Abacus and Arwen.

“No time for that,” Abacus did his best to sound authoritative while clutching his side and trying to breathe deep. “These tunnels are about to be flooded. We have to get topside!” Dusk, Darius and Delyan looked more confused than anything and the Commissar was – in lack of a better word – pissed. “You two are supposed to be in a holding cell. Grab them!”

Arwen was about to make an outraged protest, when he was interrupted a second time that evening – this time when a dull echo of a blast rolled through the tunnels from behind them. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other with wide eyes. Then they heard the distant roar of rushing water coming towards them. “Come on! We know a way.” Abacus had to shout now for the others to hear him, but the Monaghan brothers let both him and Arwen pass by them without trying to stop them. After a few running steps they had to look back at the five people that stood indecisive behind them – having not taken a single step. Arwen felt a sudden dread wash over him. What if they would have to leave them behind to save themselves? Somehow he just knew that that would haunt his dreams forever. Then Darius finally seemed to shake out of it. He grabbed Dusk’s shoulder and pushed Delyan forward. “What are we waiting for?! We have to get out of here!” 

The sound of the water came nearer with every second, even though everybody was now running as fast as possible. The Inn was a lost cause, so Abacus lead them all to the hole he and Arwen had used as entryway from the neighboring house. “Here!” he exclaimed and all but pushed Delyan through the small hole before anyone had a chance to think too much about it. The Monaghan brothers made sure that the Commissar and the two of them got through the opening next and Dusk with his nimble feet beat Abacus and Arwen in the race to be the next.

Arwen was pushing hard on Abacus’  rear to get him through the hole, when he saw the water rounding the next corner and come for him and Darius. Acknowledging the inevitable end, he closed his eyes and waited for the water. But it never came. Surprised, he opened his eyes to see Darius with his staff in both hands – extending it towards the whirling masses with sweat rolling down his face – somehow holding the water back. “Might want to get a move on, sonny” he said in his brittle voice. “Can’t keep this going forever.”

Arwen all but dove through the hole and when Darius tried to do the same, his wrists were caught by Dusk and Delyan, who pulled him through. The cellar soon began to fill and all eight of them ran for the stairs – emerging into the sunlight, coughing and shaking. Then Abacus and Arwen started laughing. “I can’t believe we pulled it off!”

Congratulations to the winning team! Diamond DblDubz and the Decepticons were in the lead from the beginning, but Heroes of the Damned sure gave them a run for their money!

Thanks for a wonderful season everyone!