Bierguardian pulled some strings to get two seats for himself and one for Beaver Claw on a commercial flight to Germany. As passengers boarded, they snapped pictures with Bierguardian and requested to do the same with Beaver Claw. He refused, citing the power in anonymity. Bierguardian reiterated to the Claw that most people knew he was Blake Baxter, but the hero turned a deaf ear to it.

On their long flight, BG snored loudly beside the Claw, who noticed an odd sight outside his window. It appeared that a heavy-set man and a dog were flying in the exact opposite direction. Beaver Claw looked around in disbelief, but nobody else seemed to notice. He surmised that he may have just eaten too much acacia.

Germany welcomed their hero with open arms and loud praise. Right outside the airport, Bierguardian stepped into a sea of adoring fans, spending the next several hours taking pictures and giving autographs. One man even challenged him to a futile, friendly drinking contest. The Guardian extended the challenge to all his fans. Thousands of bottles and casks later, that sea of fans went flat. Everyone passed out before the hero even had to burp.

As he cheerfully bid farewell to the inebriated, he swiped Beaver Claw off of a tree branch and proceeded with their mission.

“Let me hold the case.” Beaver Claw demanded, clearly curious to see what was inside.

“HA!” Bierguardian held the massive case up next to the Claw, it was nearly double his height while it was only a few feet taller than the Guardian.

“You think because you’re some freakishly large man, you’re the only one that can carry that case?” 

“Large man, large case.”

“I can hold it. Give it here.”

“NO!” Bierguardian all of a sudden grew serious and stern. “This is not a joke, Beaverman. If we do this, I keep the weapon. The power this gives, it can corrupt a good heart.”

“You don’t trust me.” Beaver Claw huffed.

“Perhaps not.”

The two quietly walked the street, Bierguardian leading the way to Brewmaster’s compound. As they passed through the city, the once benevolent and cheery giant slowly began to change. Beaver Claw eyed him suspiciously, wondering why it was happening. The tall industrial building at the center of the compound became visible and Bierguardian controlled his eyes and mind as much as possible to avoid looking at it.

Outside the perimeter, the two approached three brew guards stationed at the gate. They went to open the gate upon seeing Bierguardian, but readied their guns on Beaver Claw.

“Who is this?” one of the guards asked.

“He can enter.” Bierguardian replied. He answered in a low, monotone voice, his eyes turned quickly to a tall window on the building, behind which, the silhouette of Brewmaster looked back.

“On what authority? When was the last time you came back home, ‘hero’?” another guard questioned the giant.

“They both enter.” a voice on the guards’ radios spoke. “Without the case.”

Beaver Claw and Bierguardian took up defensive stances as the guards approached to confiscate their weapon. Bierguardian took a moment to think, then said solemnly “Take it.”, knowing he risked losing the Claw to the allure of overwhelming strength, recognizing his own transformation would be just as dangerous if not more.

Beaver Claw swung to the side and tail-whacked the guards, giving him time to tear open the case with his claws. He saw the immaculate glow of something wondrous. His fingers wrapped around the handle of a weapon unlike any he’d ever seen. He expected to feel the weight of it, but his arm grew to handle it with ease. 

Henchmen flooded the front of the compound, surrounding the intruders. The Claw was excited to do some team up moves with the Guardian, though it seemed that Brewmaster had a strange hold on him. Beaver Claw watched him standing alone near the gate still, visibly conflicted with the path he was on. Broken mugs and bottles were pointed at the Claw, the weapons issued by Brewmaster, forcing a reaction.

The weapon began to carve its way through the enemies, whether Beaver Claw was willing or not. It allowed him to resist, but the sheer exhilaration of going 0 to carnage in a blink was taking over. 

Some larger, barrel-shielded guards moved in through the swarming enemies. He used the tip of the blade to pierce the wood and bring it back to himself. His teeth sunk into it and he fended off guards as he chewed away. Once he finished, the guards all paused to see what he’d done, nothing obvious at first. Then he swiped the blade through the wood and they realized he had basically created wooden bullets to be launched when removed with force. Though impressed, the feeling didn’t have a chance to linger.

“OLD MAN!” Beaver Claw shouted to his ally with worry in his voice, seeing him frozen at the gate. For just that moment, Bierguardian snapped out of his daze and charged into the fray.

Bierguardian opened the spigot in his hand to release a small stream of beer heading to the group of henchmen. He took out his mallet and surfed on his shield whilst spinning, clobbering swathes of the crowd.

“HA!”

“There he is.” Beaver Claw smiled. “The big ones over there?”

“Sure thing!” Bierguardian replied excitedly readying his legendary oaken cask shield.

Beaver Claw bit into the wood as Bierguardian lobbed it at the two remaining guards. He held the weapon outward to cut them both in half with some air-time to spare. Bieguardian yanked him off the shield and they marched inside forcefully.

In the main room, Beaver Claw felt an instant shift in BG’s energy, of the energy in general. Something was wrong. Brewmaster spoke from the other side of the room, his voice echoing and reverberating off the copper instruments all around.

“Come, my boy.”

Bierguardian walked to Brewmaster, removing Beaver Claw’s hands from his arm as he tried to get him to resist.

“You.” Brewmaster spoke directly to Beaver Claw, though neither could actually see the other yet. “Come. I know why it is that you are here.”

Finally, they reached the massive bearded man and, as Bierguardian warned, the barrel of true emptiness beside him.

Brewmaster held up a label which read ‘Hoffenjofferbrostlbach’. 

“I’ve heard of your plight. Your brother, lost to the sea.” Brewmaster paced the floor. “But is he truly lost?”

Beaver Claw was silent, stunned by the implication.

“Jergen here was once lost. We rescued him. Made him this. No?” he questioned the guardian, who had no response to give at all. “You blame the Brewmaster for the beer, have you not thought to blame yourself?”

Beaver Claw drew the weapon, its tip heading quickly toward Brewmaster. Bierguardian held up the bottomless barrel, causing it to disappear just after the handle within the void.

“This is no revelation, Claw. You are a product of your own mistake.” Brewmaster’s features darkened, realizing the insult of the heroes killing his men and threatening his life. “Leave Biergauardian here, leave the weapon here and you can leave here.”

“You think I’d leave him here with you?” Beaver Claw removed the weapon from the barrel slowly, backing away as if surrendering it. He then held the blade up to the side of a small cask, which sparkled and glowed. “He told me all about that barrel and this brew right here. I wonder how valuable this is to you.”

Brewmaster was silent, clearly affected by the threat of losing the brew. He then chuckled.

“That concoction used a special fungus from a time before time. News is that it has returned to the world.”

“You seem like someone who would rather not go through the trouble.” Beaver Claw began to swing his sword when the door behind him caused everyone to stop for a moment.

In pursuit of his lost item, Puff Up Real Big had followed the trail of the heroes. He entered Brewmaster’s compound with no issue, as all the henchmen had been disposed of. The perfect, clean cuts on them made him fear the worst. He approached the door, having no knowledge of the standoff taking place. He kicked it open and saw inside that Beaver Claw had taken hold of his weapon. The Claw’s arm was massive and the weapon was about to strike.

“He’s got Big Knife!” Puff pointed to direct his henchmen, but puffed up in a panic. He expanded outward so fast that he knocked both heroes directly against the back wall, causing them to fall into the bottomless barrel. Brewmaster was blasted through a wall and into another room. Puff retracted his body and checked to see if he could retrieve his weapon, but the two he sought had fallen into a dark infinity.