The average minotaur was roughly around the height of 6 feet 8 inches. Slade being tall when compared to his average man, was 6 feet 5 inches making him noticeably shorter than his foe. Would it have mattered, their height difference? No pony knew. All there would be were bets being made as the minotaur got it's club and Slade tossed away his weapons.
"I dunno... that... whatever he is looks pretty tough."
"He ain't so big... okay... maybe bigger than me but still..."
"Oh just got on with it! I wanna see who wins!"
"You get first shot." Slade said to his foe as he readied his club.
"You sure about that? Big talk for such a small guy."
A few chuckles here and there.
"Really now? That club of yours? Quite large isn't it? It's not compensating for anything now is it?"
This brought a hefty ripple of laughter from anyone who wasn't drunk enough not to understand the joke.
"Okay. Enough talk." The minotaur grumbled as he lacked any sufficient wisecrack. "Let's fight!"
He swung his massive club straight at Slade who just craned his body to the side and went back to his previous position. He hit him once. Once.
This minotaur was about 6 feet 8 inches, and weighed about 400 pounds. One blow, and he went straight down like he was made of grain. This caused the entire room, (or tent in this case) that was normally full of rowdy creatures who had a bit too much to drink to go deathly still. The minotaur groaned and muttered to himself as he nursed a bloody nose.
This continued for like a few minutes. Until he got up, and began to laugh. A genuine jovial laugh that caused everyone else to laugh.
"That was really good... I hadn't been hit so hard since... ever!" He cried as he continued to laugh. "Whoever you are, whatever you are, you're pretty good."
"Well... thanks." Slade said. He was accustomed to flattery, but rather unaccustomed to any genuine compliments. The only one he remembered was being called "the scariest badass on the planet" by the local police force and even then, that wasn't exactly used in the most positive of all fashions. All of a sudden, he felt like a Viking sitting in the local bar.
"Tell you what, we take a few shots together? They're not Equestrian, so they're not made from apples."
"That's fine but I got to get going... but if you're ever here again, get me some. I've been dying for a drink that doesn't taste like applejuice."
"Take care friend." The minotaur smiled as he handed him a small necklace made of "gold". "I think you deserve this. By the way, my name is Mas."
"Slade Wilson." Slade said as he back off slowly and dragged Sanya off with him.
"Okay. What the hell is in that paper bag?" Slade asked sternly. He wanted to make a joke about Russians and vodka, but this... wait. Why isn't this the time? And why the hell does he even care that she drinks? It's none of his business anyways... it's just that...
Inwardly, he sighed to himself. He hated it. Ever since they came here, he felt as though he's been doing things that he normally shouldn't have. Agreeing to stay here and help fight some dragon that probably won't be worth some time was just the start and the first offense but...
"It's actually for you..." Sanya said nervously. "You mentioned the other day you needed a drink. So I got you one."
For the first time in his life. He felt like a bad person. This deserved a facepalm.
"Sorry. What is it?"
Reaching into the bag, the girl pulled out a large glass bottle of wine. Rich red that had been aged for about 16 years. It was the stuff.
"I.. hope you like it..." Sanya stammered nervously as Slade scrutinized it further. His reaction surprised her a bit as he chuckled slightly.
"I probably will. Later though. Thanks."
"Okay." Sanya said to herself as she reached into her pocket and took out the photo of her parents. Like most pictures back in the 30s, it was in black and white.
"How did you get the money though?" Slade asked.
"I paid him a kopeck. Bronze seems to be a rarity here so he agreed to make the deal."
"Alright then." Slade said as he drove on. His mind racing like a certain guy he knew.
Why was he concerned if she drank? She was Russian after all. Well, Orussian but that was just a name. He wasn't one to make racial stereotypes but if he knew them well, then he knew that Russians drank alcohol like it was water.
Hell... why the hell did he care for anyone? Wasn't this all so he could rich? The only reason he agreed was that he could get enough money to be set for life?... again....
Why did he even care again that Sanya may have been drinking? It was her life, she could do what she wanted with it, and why the hell should he give a bent penny about her sake? Perhaps it occurred to her then he may have cared. Perhaps enough to tell her not to do something her personally may have believed as "not good for her health" but why? What the hell made her so special? Was it because of her age? Armin wasn't too much older and Slade had no trouble smashing his face in. Perhaps it was because she was a girl? That didn't stop him in the past. Let's see... like 16 of his assassinations, his own daughter, a few (hundred) female security guards...
Whatever it was, not knowing bothered him. And it would for a long time.
"So... how did your session go?" Jim asked Cap as he passed him some buttered biscuits.
"Pretty well." Cap replied. "We got like 12 miles in. Not bad kid."
"Thanks..." Armin replied weakly as he took a sip of iced water. "I also can gladly tell you all about how I almost got eaten by a bunch of wolves made out of wood."
"Yeah... that's true. We were on the run and then some wooden wolves come out of nowhere and try to eat Armin alive."
"And I take it the star-spangled man had a plan?" Slade joked.
"You bet your other eye he did! Turned them into firewood." Rogers shot back as he grabbed a biscuit and swallowed the thing in one bite. "Okay. So Medic, I heard you mentioned something about going into the forest too. I didn't see you, so what were you up to?"
"Vell... you see herr captain, I vas out in ze forest to get some ingredients for SCIENCE!"
"Uh huh... like what?"
"Dead bodies... poisonous plants, viper venom..."
And this is why everyone didn't trust Medic to do heart related surgery when he asked. Something about that it makes the medi-gun "more efficient". Whether or not this may be true, or he was bull-shitting them so he could probably get his hands on someone's hearts, probably Steve, Slade's or Sanya's no one really wanted to find out. Suspiciously however... those three seemed to be at the top of his list... coincidentally on top of that, he wanted blood samples from all of them. This was probably good enough to have Steve's hand straying for his pistol every time Medic was within a two feet radius of him, Slade always keeping an eye on him and Sanya slipping out like a cat whenever he seemed to want something from her.
"So Jim, what was your day like?"
"Pretty boring. I always thought the grease monkeys who worked in SCVs had it easy. Turned out they had the most thankless and boring job in the entire korprulu sector. And I am certain no one here still knows where that is."
Nope.
"Anyways, what about you Slade? All you did was go get my shopping done."
"Pretty boring too. All I can remember is having to pull a single fast one because a bunch of lunatics wouldn't leave me alone." Slade said. "I got this pink blur that was screaming incomprehensibly all the time and wouldn't shut up, and then there was some other joker who had a fetish for hands."
"Well... I thought the pink one was pretty nice... she actually showed me around the place and gave me tips..." Sanya muttered almost inaudibly. "I think her name is Pinkie Pie."
"Sounds like the flavor of an ice cream brand." Slade commented.
"You telling me?" Steve asked. "I met this race pony called "Rainbow Dash". Tell me that doesn't sound like the name of an ice cream brand."
"That aside however... I hope you liked the minerals." Slade said to Jim as he dug into some "chicken".
"Yeah... yeah... it was great." Jim said. "I can get some more work done tomorrow. But Sanya... can you play us a piece on the piano we got?"
"Yes." Sanya smiled as she took her spot behind the keyboard and began to play.
[At Mount Doom I mean the huge terrifying volcano which someone had neglected to name. Either due to the fact that no one really wanted to go in an 100 mile radius of the thing or because that the guy writing this neglected to find a cool name. Take your pick.]
Had anyone brave (or foolish) soul managed to climb the treacherous peaks of this mountain and managed to as much as camp here, they would know for one that though this may be hell, hell wasn't always hot. In fact, at this given moment, hell was cold enough to freeze smaller creatures solid in just moments. Down below, the fiery river Acheron became a path of ice and snow.
Of course, if you were a nine meter long and four meter tall dragon, none of this really mattered to you. naturally, it didn't matter to the large brass dragon who flew over his brethren and against the howling wind with relative easy. He perched upon the tallest peak, which was also the throne of an even larger black dragon, Feynaltdrog.
"Od key rahn zeim het. Un brothuz nahkip niist skerah ol nust nok niist kiir do od ahrk iiz voknau himdah."
"Nid trun. Mu fen das velaaz voknau niin fod tiid meyz, nii fen kos nust wo los gein wah kos naak. Hi drey ni bo wah fun zey baarkei, fah daar lost bo nau fah ziin iilah."
"Vrah dii drog. Fah giriik amongst daar ulfah. .. daar jul. .. tul sum. Nust vis gir wah fos mu saag voth vopent ahrk lost nid suleyk midrak nii."
"Ruz dreh atruk do nii. Zu'u vis unstiid tii nau dii zeymah wah siiv lusvaan."
"Ol hi smaal."
Sanya couldn't sleep. Nothing out of the norm considering the circumstances, she considered taking some of the sleeping pills Medic had recommended, but recalled that the crazy doctor would probably take the opportunity to get at her heart. It was however, the voices that she heard once again that would stop her from getting any sleep.
The same voice. The one called Feynaltdrog kept speaking. If only she could understand what he said, it would be of use to her companions. The problem wasn't any different as of last time.
SHE DIDN'T SPEAK ANCIENT DRAGON.