[Beowulf 2.0] Chapter 3: Beowulf vs. The Dragon, Part 2

Beo stepped off the ladder and looked around. He was in a concrete hallway lit by bare light bulbs put into the ceiling. There were several doors along the passage, and all of them were opened into empty rooms.

            He continued to the end of the hallway and found himself in a room with a mini gun turret in the middle, speakers on the walls, and cameras in the corners. There were also strange cattle prod looking things hanging from the ceiling, and Beowolf wondered aloud;

            “What the crap?”

            He walked over to a keypad on the opposite wall and pushed some arbitrary numbers.

            Then an alarm started blaring, a metal door slammed over the exit, and the turret moved.

            Then a garbled, digitized voice said, “Defense Protocol 3A-15 activated.”

            The gun swung around, spraying bullets. Beowolf ducked and rolled as chips of concrete flew around the room. He got underneath the turret and kicked at it.

            It didn’t budge.

            Then the cattle prods began to shoot down from the ceiling and quickly retract. One of them almost hit Beo, and he had to roll out of the way.

            Then the machine gun resumed shooting, and he took cover beneath the turret.

            He noticed that there were wires wrapped around the legs of the tripod the gun was mounted on.

            He wished he had brought the pruning shears he had kept from his job as a flower sorter.

            Then the prods came down again, and he dodged side to side between electrocution and getting shot.

            Then knives began to shoot out of holes in the walls.

            He dropped to his knees, grabbed a knife, rolled as cattle prods shot down at him, push himself up and did a back flip as the gun shot at him, and dove as knives flew over his head.

            Then he reached the turret. He hacked at the wires until they were all broken.

            Then, after doing a quick check of the magazine, he held down the trigger and screamed with excitement as he swept around the room, shooting out the cameras, cattle prod mechanisms, and knife launchers.

            “Defense Protocol 3A-15 aborted,” the voice said. “Activating gas.”

            Vents on the walls opened, and green gas began to pour out of them. Heart pounding, Beo turned the gun on the key pad, and pulled the trigger.

            After a few seconds of continuous fire, part of the wall swung outward, revealing a passage.

            As Beowolf sprinted into it, he heard the voice say, “Gas aborted. Self destruct initiated.”

            Then, all along the dim passage, small bundles of plastic explosive appeared from the walls.

            “Five.”

            It doesn’t even start at ten? Beowolf thought as he sprinted harder. He could see something at the end of the passage.

            “Four.”

            It was a blast door.

            “Three.”

            It was closing.

            “Two.”

            He ran harder.

            “One.”

            He dove.

            “Zero.”

            At least they gave me one more second, he thought as he sailed through the gap as it closed.

            There was an explosion sound from behind the door, and the ground rumbled.

            He backed away from the door and checked his surroundings. He was in a large storm sewer with a stream of water flowing through the channel in the bottom of the circular tunnel.

            “Well,” he said, “this doesn’t tell me anything.”

            Then he noticed something lying next to the blast door. It was a manila envelope with ‘Bob’ written on it.

            He opened it, and reached inside. There was one object within.

            Beo looked at it, and said, “I need to get to Sam’s.”

            He found a ladder, climbed up it, pushed the man hole cover away, and crawled up into the empty street. In the distance, the lights of the business district shone and beyond them, a giant storm cloud was moving towards the city, lightning flashing within it.

            Beo smiled and started running.

Dragon Tower was lit in such a way that it appeared gold. At night, it was the most recognizable building in the city. Forty stories tall, with a pagoda-like awning at each level, it seemed more like something that belonged in Godzilla than in the business district.

            The limo pulled up in front of it. The man, his guards, and the captives all got out and walked up the steps to the door, set under the statue of the dragon and the sign.

            Even at this hour, the doorman, a young man with short hair, was standing, whistling.

            He snapped to attention as the party approached and pulled the door open.

            “Thank you,” the man said.

            “Sir,” the doorman replied.

            The man led the party into the atrium, where the second statue was located. It looked like a dragon reaching for the sky, and its mouth was open to reveal sharp, bronze teeth.

            It looked sort of cartoony, but it worked, the man thought as he entered the security booth.

            Then he pressed the intercom button, and his voice boomed through the building, “Attention residents. Unfortunately the building will have to be emptied immediately. A gas leak has been found in the basement. Please remain outside until further notice.”

            He then put that message on loop and went out to the atrium to watch as they stumbled, confused, sleepy, and grumpy, out of the building into the streets.

            Then he locked the door and turned to the captives.

            “We need to get some stuff ready,” he said.

Beowolf used his spare key for the second time in forty-eight hours. This time he entered Sam’s club through the front, and he went immediately to the employees’ lounge.

            Then he ditched the tuxedo and dressed in his old uniform. He straightened the name tag, made sure his lapel pins were in place, and then went down onto the store floor.

            When he returned, he checked himself in full body mirror. On his back were two air soft guns, both fully automatic and the most powerful ones at the store. Around his waist, two large Nerf swords were shoved into a belt holding containers of paintballs. On one arm was a sling shot to shoot the paintballs with, and on the other was the laser device from a Blu-ray disc player that he had modified to actually make it a darned good laser. Slung around his shoulders so that they crossed in the middle of his chest were two belts of smoke grenades.

            He checked himself out, and realized one thing was missing.

            He went down to the registers, stepped behind a random one, and hit the sale button until there was a string of receipt long enough for him to use.

            He wrote ‘NO SALE’ in the middle of it with a permanent marker, and then tied it around his head.

            Then, deeming himself ready, got into a forklift and drove it out the garage. Then he drove towards the golden tower in the distance.

            Thunder rumbled.

When he arrived at the tower, he knew something was wrong. The lights on the inside where flashing on and off, and a giant crowd of people were huddled together across the street. Even the ever present doorman was standing at the door to a salon across the street.

            Beo got off of the fork lift and drew one of the swords. He walked in the middle of the street until he was directly in front of the tower. The dragon statue glared down at him, and he stared back up at it.

            Clouds swirled over the spire at the top of the tower, and lightning flashed in forks that struck the spire. Thunder rumbled, and a wind picked up that blew Beowolf’s hair, head band, and vest.

            It was, essentially, dramatic.

            Then a voice boomed, “Enter, Bob who is called Beowolf.”

            The door to the building swung open, showing a dark interior.

            Beowolf strode up the stairs and entered the tower.

It was dark inside the atrium except for a few dim, red lights on the columns holding up the first balcony. The door slammed shut behind him, and he called into the darkness, “Philip! Show yourself!”

            Then a spot light fell upon a dark lump next to one of the columns.

            Beowolf slowly walked up to it and turned it over.

            It was…

“Now,” he said, “if Bob does survive this…and he will…we must get him into the tower.”

            “Why?” Lily asked. He had taken off her gag and allowed her to sit on the seat across from him in the limo.

            “Because that’s where our greatest weapon is. When we’re in the tower, we’re unbeatable.”

            “Are you sure it will work?” she asked. “You’ve never even tested it.”

            “I’m sure it will. I spent good money on it.”

            Lily looked out the window and asked, “Why do we have to kill him? He’s actually sort of good looking.”

            “Because he’s interfered with the plan once and destroyed one of our assets. He’s dangerous to us.”

            “He wants to stop the takeover?”

            “Yes.”

            “Oh…” she said. “Can I fight him first, just to see if we don’t have to use the weapon?”

            He sighed. “Sure.”

            “Thanks, daddy.”

…Philip.

            “What?” Beowolf asked aloud as he took a step backwards in surprise.

            Then the lights of the building all snapped on at once, lighting the atrium brightly. Beo turned and looked towards the entrance, and saw Earnest and Lily standing there. Lily had two very sharp looking swords in her hands, and she was wearing a metal breast plate. They were both smiling at him.

            “Lily? Earnest?” he asked. “What’s going on here?”

            Earnest and Lily walked towards him. Earnest said, “I’m afraid I haven’t been honest with you, Bob.”

            “I’d say so,” Beowolf replied.

            Earnest laughed, and it echoed ominously through the building. “When I heard that you were dating my daughter, I knew that an opportunity had been given to me and I just couldn’t let it pass.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “I mean that you are the sole defender of America against Sweden.”

            “I stopped that threat when I killed Grendel and his mom.”

            Earnest laughed again, and Beowolf gulped. “Like any good organization, second-in-commands and back-ups were in place just in case the leaders of our operation were killed.”

            “What organization?”

            “Haroldson Enterprises is a cover up for my actual job. You unwittingly gave me this new responsibility when you destroyed that IKEA, and Grendel and his mother along with it.”

            “What?”

            “I am now the leader of the Swedish takeover.”

            Beowolf struggled to remain calm. “How can you take over now? IKEA is destroyed.”

            “We’ve tried subterfuge and stealth, but all of those have failed. Even though my Swedish colleagues are telling me not to, I’ve decided to use force.”

            “How?”

            “Well, my boy, it begins with your death, and ends with my reign.”

            Then he turned to Lily and said, “I’ll be getting it ready if you fail.”

            “I won’t,” she said as Earnest left and disappeared into a corridor.

            They stood regarding each other.

            “I don’t suppose we can talk this over?” Beowolf asked, suddenly feeling courageous.

            “No,” Lily said, twirling the swords idly.

            “Good,” Beo said. Then he yelled and charged forward, foam sword in hand.

            Lily yelled and charged as well, metal sword in hand. She swung at Beo, and he rolled out of the way and hit her in the back of the head with the sword.

            She whipped around and swung both her weapons at him. He danced backwards and said, “In retrospect, I should’ve brought real weapons.”

            She smiled at him and swung her swords. They both missed, but Beo was getting backed up towards one of the columns.

            He grabbed one of the containers of paintballs, ripped the cap off with his teeth, and threw it at her. The paintballs flew into the air, giving him enough time to get several smoke grenades and activate them. Blue, green, and red smoke filled the air, and he ran for cover as Lily swiped the air in frustration.

            “You’re mad when you’re angry,” he said, concealed in the smoke. She swung again at it.

            “Shut up,” she said through gritted teeth.

            “You’re angry when you’re frustrated,” he continued, pouring out another one of the containers. Then he opened a third container, took out a paint ball, and put it in the sling shot.

            “Shut up,” she said, louder this time.

            “You’re frustrated when you’re being outwitted by a former flower sorter.”

            “Shut up!” she shrieked as she charged into the smoke, flailing the swords around. Beo stepped to the side as she hit the column with her swords, getting them stuck in the wood. He shot a paintball at her, and hit her in the forehead.

            She yelped and screamed an insult at him that shouldn’t be written for the sake of rating.

            In reply, he shot another.

            Then she wrenched the swords out of the wood, and spun towards him, swords moving like blades in a blender.

            He jumped backwards, but not before his belt and grenade straps were cut off, spilling the remainder of the paintballs and making him lose his swords.

            He ripped off the sling shot and fired the laser at her. She yelped again, saying, “Where did you get this crap?”

            “Sam’s Club,” he replied truthfully. The smoke was starting to thin out, and he could see her moving towards him, swords spinning in front of her.

            He moved away from her, constantly shooting the laser. He then realized she was spinning the swords to render the laser useless. He ripped it off as well, and ran behind the cartoonish looking dragon.

            She looked around for him, and then said, “If you come out, I’ll give you a kiss before I kill you.”

            He stayed quiet and fought his inner machismo.

            “Come out,” she called in an irresistibly feminine voice.

            He got the guns off of his back and turned their safety off. From the sound of her footsteps, she was just on the other side of the statue.

            “Come out, Beo,” she called.

            He whipped out from behind the shelter of the statue, propped the guns on his hips, and pulled the triggers. She was caught by surprise as she was pelted by the small balls of plastic repeatedly.

            She took a step backwards and tripped over the belt. She stumbled, and slipped on the paintballs. She screamed and fell and was knocked unconscious.

            He cast aside the guns and ran over to her. He felt for a pulse, found one, and then stood back up.

            “Earnest?” he called. “Where are you?”

            Then there was the sound of metal scraping against metal, and Beo looked up.

As Earnest climbed up inside the cockpit of the weapon, he silently thanked the guy that had built the robot. No questions had been asked, and no questions had been answered.

            Now he was going to use it for a purpose that only slightly deviated from its original one.

            “For Sweden,” he said.

Beowolf looked up, searching for the source of the noise. It took him a few seconds to realize it wasn’t coming from the walls or the floor, but from the statue.

            The gaping mouth shut and opened a few times. The tail whipped around, the arms stretched, the wings flapped.

            Then the eyes glowed red.

            Beowolf dodged to the side as the dragon stepped down from the fountain and shook itself.

            The dragon was about sixty feet long from head to tail, and ten feet tall from foot to shoulder. It was made of brass, with intricate scales covering it completely. It’s head was large and boxy, and it looked almost like it belonged in a sixty-four bit videogame from the nineties than reality.

            It opened its mouth, showing long, bronze fangs. In the back of its mouth was a strange, funnel-like fixture.

            As Beowolf wondered what it was, there was a clicking from inside it, like a propane gas stove top.

            Then Beowolf realized what was going on, and he dove to the side as a jet of flame burst from the dragon’s mouth with a mechanical grinding noise Beowolf assumed was a roar.

            The fire hit one of the columns and washed around it, setting it on fire as it did so. Small flames were still on the floor, and Beowolf watched in shock and awe as it flamed again, this time arcing its head up and sweeping it across. The fire shot into the air, and flaming droplets fell, forcing Beowolf to duck underneath the balcony for cover.

            Then Earnest’s voice was heard, as if through speakers.

            “Do you like it?” he asked as the dragon walked over towards Beo.

            Beowolf stood staring as it stopped twenty feet away from him.

            “I didn’t make it specifically to kill you, but its purpose was to assist the Swedish takeover.”

            The dragon roared again, forcing Beowolf to cover his ears.

            “But now, you will make like your namesake and do battle,” Earnest said.

            Then the dragon’s tail came whipping in from the side. Beowolf ducked as it smashed through the column and went over his head. Then he turned and ran towards a door that led to the stair case.

            Above him, there was a creaking as the balcony, without anything to support it, started to fall.

            He opened the door to the stairs, and slammed it shut as a wave of fire washed against it and the balcony collapsed.

            He knew that he couldn’t stay here, because the dragon would find him and kill him anyway. So he ran up the stairs, passed the first level, and continued up as a giant, brass hand smashed through the wall and flailed around, searching. Beowolf was sent sprawling on the stairs, holding onto the railing as a red eye replaced the hand. Then a mouth replaced the eye, and Beowolf scrambled up to the next flight of stairs as a jet of flame followed him, setting fire to the stair well.

            He threw open the door to the second level and looked around. He was standing on a balcony overlooking the atrium. Far below, Lily crawling away towards the entrance, and Philip was struggling against his bonds next to the column where Beo had found him. The dragon was climbing the balconies, and was about to reach Beo.

            Thinking quickly, he ran for a hallway and entered it just as the dragon poked its head up over the balcony, saw Beowolf running, and shot flame at him.

            The carpet quickly caught on fire, and soon smoke was filling the hallway. The fire extinguishers weren’t working, and Beowolf starting to feel hot.

            He couldn’t fight this thing without some kind of weapon.

            But his search was interrupted when the dragon ripped away the floor and pulled itself partially into the hall. It breathed a jet of flame that blew out a several windows opposite it, and it was ripping its way into the hall.

            Seeing only one safe path, Beowolf turned towards a stair well and began to run.

            “Come back!” Earnest yelled the dragon ripped open the stairwell and shot flame up it. Beowolf continued running up the stairs, all the while hearing the dragon smashing through the floors of the building, searching for him.

            Suddenly the stairs above him were destroyed by a giant, brass hand. He opened the door and saw the dragon’s stomach being pulled up through a hole in the floor.

            Then the feet and tail were gone as well, and Beowolf looked down into the hole. It dropped six floors, and all of them were on fire. He turned and ran down the hall, looking for anything to use against the dragon.

            Just then, the ceiling in front of him collapsed, and the dragon’s great bulk fell down before him. As soon as it saw him, the dragon swiped at him with sharp, bronze claws, but they missed and ripped out the outside wall instead. Far below them, the crowd of people suddenly looked a lot more interested.

            The dragon lunged at Beowolf, and he was knocked to the side and out into the air. He landed heavily on the seventh floor awning, and scrambled on the clay tiles as he slid towards the edge.

            Then the dragon’s tail was before him, accidently whipping back and forth. He grabbed it, and was flung high into the air. He heard the cries of the crowd as he reached the thirty-sixth level awning, reached the apex of his fling, and grabbed the awning.

            There were cheers from below as he pulled himself up, broke the window, and entered the tower. Far below him, the dragon was smashing its way through the building, trying to catch up.

            The fire, however, was having an easier time keeping up with Beowolf, and the hall he was currently in was smoky and fire-y in some places.

            He looked for anything to use against the dragon as he ran.

            Then when he turned a corner, he saw it. At the far end of the hall, hanging on the wall, was a three foot long sword. It was made of metal, and Beowolf knew that he had to have it at all costs.

            He sprinted towards it, hearing the dragon’s crashing getting closer.

            Then, halfway down the hall, the floor was ripped away and replaced with the dragon’s flaming maw. Beowolf yelled and sprinted as the dragon opened its mouth wide.

            He reached the edge of the useable floor, and jumped. The dragon shot up a jet of flame as he sailed over it, and the edge of his vest was singed.

            He rolled on the landing and kept running as the dragon pulled its bulk into the hall.

            Then the sword was in his hand and he was running towards the balcony, a wall of flame at his heels.

            He reached the balcony and assessed the situation.

            Below him, everything was on fire. He couldn’t see Philip, and guessed that he had found some way of escaping. Lily was gone as well, and was probably distancing herself from the building.

            That left the dragon.

            The wall to Beowolf’s right exploded outward and the dragon rushed out onto the balcony, turned, and saw Beowolf.

            Beo screamed and ran at the dragon, sword at the ready. The dragon opened its mouth, and Beowolf moved to the side as a wall of flame washed past him. He got up next to the dragon’s head, swung the sword up, and hit it in the eye. The glass eye shattered, and the electronics contained within it were broken. The dragon spazzed out, and fell off the balcony. It flapped its wings to slow its plummet, and succeeded in a controlled crash into the fountain.

            It looked up at Beowolf, spread its wings, and jumped, flapping its wings.

            Beowolf screamed and jumped off the balcony, sword in hand.

            Above him, the roof collapsed, and the spire at the top of the tower started to fall, bringing everything else with it.

            The dragon opened its mouth wide, and flames licked across its teeth and lips.

            They were converging on each other; the dragon with its flame and Beowolf with his sword and the collapsing roof.

            “For Sweden!” Earnest yelled.

            “For Sam’s Club!” Beowolf screamed as he flung the sword into the mouth, where it hit the nozzle. Then he grabbed the dragon’s wing as the flame mechanism backed up, and the dragon burst into flames, and fell, slowing its fall by slamming into balconies.

            When the floor was a safe distance away, Beowolf dropped down and rolled. Then he sprinted for the door as the dragon roared, slammed into the ground, and exploded. A wall of fire chased Beowolf as he reached the front door, threw it open, and dove down the steps as a massive jet of flame erupted from the door. He scrambled on all fours away from the building as it fell in on itself, and finally collapsed entirely in a shower of sparks.

            He looked back, and saw the flaming rubble that, thirty minutes ago, had been the last hope of the Swedish take over.

            Suddenly feeling tired, Beowolf collapsed and fell asleep where he lay.

The months passed as they usually do, and many small, but important things happened.

            Philip gave the story of how Earnest had been controlling him through blackmail, and had forced him to lure Beowolf into a trap. He was let off with a warning and fine.

            Lily was eventually found living in a cave. She had fled there once she realized that her dad might not win the battle with Beowolf, and had been there for several weeks before she was found by a group of children on a hike. She was sentenced to ten years in prison, and went without a fight.

            Haroldson Enterprises disbanded as soon as Dragon Tower was extinguished, and the money was given to charities.

            Sam’s Club went on being Sam’s Club, but a little more proudly.

            Sweden quietly continued manufacturing Saabs and giving out Nobel Prizes.

            And Beowolf, after getting a not inconsiderable amount of money from Haroldson Enterprises, went to college to get a degree in linguistics and literature.

            Perhaps one day he would return to Sam’s Club. Perhaps he would go on to a new job.

            Either way, he was going to go forth bravely and happily.

            Just like his namesake.