The darts came straight out of the air, directly above Angus' head. They
bonuced harmlessly off of Angus' armored helmet, and for a moment he wondered what was
happening. What the hell was this giant hand grabbing Abbadon? Where did the darts come
from, and who would be stupid enough to through DARTS at body armor that was meant to
withstand mortar fire?
One by one, Jonathan, Acrtrael, Nanukk, and the others dropped into sound sleep, probably because of the darts. Rapidly, Angus was the only one left conscious in a pile of rubble and shattered darts. Everything around him stopped.
Even the Powers that seemed to so blithely interfere with self-proclaimed gods like Abbadon had left. Angus was alone.
...
Even the voice in his head had abandoned him. Somehow, Angus knew without trying that any effort put into waking anyone up would be wasted. Glancing through his HUD, Angus caught sight of the slowly-cooling body of Big Bob. His promised ally. Something struggled to gain Angus' attention, but he was unprepared for the shock of realizing that he missed the oversized human.
...
Angus sat down on a particularly large chunk of rubble and popped the faceplate of his helmet off -- his gloves, too. Reaching into his reconstructed pack, his hands hit the wrapped ducks. ... Too numb to show the emotion that wracked him, he violently threw the ducks into the air and casually blasted them apart with his autocannons.
The smell of charred meat filled the air, and Angus reached into his pack again, fishing out his Turkey Ranch and Swiss. His interest momentarily flickered as he realized that it was reconstructed not in it's flattened form, but as if it were freshly made...and then it died again before that fact connected to anything else in his empty brain.
He polished off the first half of his sub in three large Trollish bites. It tasted like it always did, but his usual enjoyment of the perfect sandwich failed him.
Unexpectedly, he heard a noise: scrabbling against the rubble of the crater. Rising and turning to face it, he slapped his faceplate back down and raised his cannons, priming the grenade launchers. The targeting reticule focused on an animal shape.
A familiar shape.
"RPHMURPH!" Angus cried into his helmet, mouth still stuffed with Ranchy goodness.
Flipping his helmet up and swallowing, Angus tried again. "RUPERT!"
The hell hound stopped to pick up a large chunk of blown-up duck before walking up to Angus. Looking sadly in the direction of Big Bob, Rupert whined once before nudging Angus' hand with his oversized nose.
"You've gotta be desperate if you're making friends with a troll, mutt."
Rupert nudged Angus' hand again, and Angus realized that he was holding the other half of his Turkey Ranch and swiss. Damn dog doesn't want me, he wants my fucking sandwich!
Angus blinked. Hey, I'm back.
Angus glanced around to make sure no living thing would witness the forbidden generousity between troll and canine that was about to go down. When he was certain the coast was clear, he knelt down and offered the half-sub to the hell hound.
"Here you go, boy. Here you go."
Rupert gobbled the sandwich down, and then, in a gesture that must have been psychologically traumatic to the alpha male puppy, laid down and hesitantly rolled over, showing Angus his belly.
He was submitting. Showing Angus that he was willing to accept the troll as master.
Fuck a rope, Angus thought, he wants me to be the leader of his pack. He wants be to be his Big Bob. If he had the capacity to tear up, he wouldn't have -- he was still a troll after all -- but he would have come close enough to be mad at himself for it.
As it was, he was surprisingly happy. He'd never had a pet that he didn't involuntarily eat before. Somehow, he knew that Rupert wouldn't put up with much chewing, and that Rupert could stop him. The thought made him proud.
Angus stood up and streched, and Rupert started walking toward the base of the crater, whining slightly. Knowing enough to follow, Angus allowed Rupert to lead him down into the chasm left behind by the portal that Abbadon had sprung from. A tiny wisp of rent space still existed.
Rupert pawed at it, and slowly, with each scratch, it grew. Moments later, a gap large enough for Angus to crawl through had opened. Rupert hopped through it, and Angus followed.
That's all for now. More later.
