Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Realms ❯ Sign of Courage ( Chapter 19 )

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Sign of Courage

By nightdragon0

 

 

 

“What the?” The birdman barely got the words out of his beak before Nightslice sent a summersault kick into his face.

The Scizor landed neatly on his feet and looked up to face the much larger Minotaur, who had drawn a great axe he had by his side. Growling, the bull swung the axe in an X-pattern, with Nightslice shifting his body left and right. The deadly blade missed him by inches on either side.

As his opponent altered the swing of his axe, Nightslice blocked with both his steel-hard pincers, slamming them into the Minotaur's wrist. The bull cried out in pain as Nightslice kicked his shin before leaping up and driving an uppercut into his chin.

This one's too big for me. Nightslice thought as the Minotaur stumbled. That bird fellow's more of my size, but just got to get a hold of him…

“Hargh!” The bird had gotten to his feet by this time and pointed both his wings forward. A spray of feathers hit the ground as Nightslice rolled away.

He noted that the feathers not only sliced through the grass, but stuck firmly in the ground and stayed there. They were some kind of natural weapon this birdman possessed.

Nightslice was caught getting up and crossed his arms, utilizing Iron Defense, a move that had him glowing with a white light as the feather darts bounced off his armored body.

And now, Agility! Nightslice told himself, pushing off the ground and charging in-between his foe's next set of feather darts.

He was rapidly closing the distance between the two when the bird took to the sky, leaving Nightslice to clumsily slash through air. Cursing, Nightslice spun round and jumped up after him, spreading out his hidden wings at the same time.

His wings' metallic click apparently startled the bird enough for Nightslice to slam his head with his Metal Claw attack, knocking the bird out of the sky. Using his wings to guide his fall, Nightslice grabbed the bird in mid-air and landed on the ground, holding his foe in a chokehold from behind.

The Scizor kept on arm around the bird's neck, with the other hand held in front of his terrified opponent's face, displaying the sharp edge of the pincer. The Minotaur was recovering and gripping his axe tightly, but it didn't do him much good.

“You'd better not move or I'll have to do something unfortunate to your friend here.” Nightslice snarled in a threatening voice.

“Gararrk! Help!” The birdman choked as Nightslice tightened his grip.

“What do you want?” The Minotaur demanded, holding his axe out.

“Just to talk a little.” Nightslice told him. “Not too much to ask, is it?”

“All right! I surrender!” The Minotaur placed his axe on the ground. “Just don't hurt Tsubasa!”

“Gao…” The birdman, Tsubasa, whispered.

“Good.” Nightslice nodded. “Now, I overheard your conversation earlier. Tell me, this bug creature you were talking about, did it look just like me?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Gao replied. “But I don't know if it talks like…”

“Like me? Oh, I know she does. See, she's a close acquaintance of mine.” Nightslice could practically feel this it was Kris now.

“A friend of yours? But I know all those Pokemon within the arena are slaves bound to fight as gladiators.”

“I expected as much. And I need to get her out.” Nightslice smirked. “That's where you two come in.”

 

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This place…Storm thought as he glanced around. It looks so much like the one back in my original world.

The Charizard was flying through the canyon, winding between the jaggered edges of the cliffs. It was actually the same rocky valley that Jade had passed through several days earlier.

However the clear skies soon clouded into a dark and stormy downpour. From out of nowhere, thunder boomed and lightning flashed across the horizon. Firestorm cursed as the rain pelted his face and body.

Even while squinting, he noticed something along the mountainside. A faint, reddish glow…of flames.

Somebody's there. Firestorm thought. Wait, that's a…

As he moved in closer, Storm realized it was a tiny Charmander, balanced precariously on the narrow ledge. The smaller lizard seemed to be struggling in the rain, both with keeping his balance and with the object he was carrying.

“Hey kid!” Storm shouted.

The Charmander looked up, panicked and lost his grip. Firestorm instinctively dove down as the Charmander fell, catching the younger lizard on his right and the glittering object in his left. Terrified, the Charmander sank his fangs into Storm's shoulder.

Gritting his teeth furiously, Firestorm arched his way towards a sheltered section and landed. The Charmander was still firmly latched onto him and Storm stroked the back of his head calmly.

“Hey kid, I'm not going to hurt you. We're safe now.”

Slowly, the child relaxed and released his grip. He looked up into Storm's face with mixed emotions of fear and relief.

(About time you showed up. I was wondering how long I'd be stuck with that idiotic human partner of yours.)

The `voice' caused both dragons to jump.

“Lombadra?” Firestorm gasped. “You…where are you?”

(You've only been holding me in your claw for the past 2 minutes.) The ancient dragon snapped.

Storm mentally slapped himself and raised the sword he'd been holding in his left hand all the while. He wasn't a fan of using weapons, but even he had to admit that it was a fine-looking sword.

“So, Jade finally found a place to put your crystal into?” Firestorm asked.

(I suppose I do owe him that.) Lombadra replied. (But we've got other things to worry about right now. Kaiser's troops are still coming after us.)

“Grrr…damn, they're even here.” Firestorm snarled.

“Erm, you two know each other?” The Charmander cut in.

(Don't worry kid, he's a friend.) Lombadra's voice sounded. (Jade and his sister were captured just now, but he managed to escape and get me out of there.)

“Really?” Storm put the Charmander down. “That's pretty brave of you…”

“Dan.”

“Well Dan, I…”

Several roars sounded in the area, causing both to snap up.

“Oh no! They must still be following me!” Dan cried.

“Who?” Firestorm turned towards the sky as a couple of Charizard flew into view, rapidly approaching their position.

“Get away from the child stranger!” One of them demanded. “The valley Elder has ordered that he be eliminated immediately!”

“Elder Tsung is working with those bad people!” Dan shouted. “You guys can't see that?”

“Silence child! These affairs are not yours to meddle with.” The second Charizard growled.

“Hey, you two.” Firestorm stepped in front of Dan. “Your Elder would order you to kill a child? Not much of a good leader I'd think.”

“Keep out of this foreigner, or you'll regret it!”

“Too bad, I've already made this my business!” Firestorm roared. “Want the kid? You'll have to get through me first!”

“You've asked for it then!” The two Charizard combined their Flamethrower attacks into a super-heated burst that was fired on Storm's position, stirring up a huge cloud of smoke and dust.

But when the view cleared, Firestorm was still standing firmly, twirling the Kiazahoushi weapon which held Lombadra's spirit around.

“Now that's handy.” Firestorm smiled. “Seems you've picked up a few tricks Lombadra.”

(Shut up and get down to business!)

“You don't have to tell me twice! RRROOOAAARRRRR!”

 

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“What do you mean?”

“I need to get into the arena in order to rescue my friend. And it seems you need a fighter to win a few matches and clear out your debts. So I'm proposing we form an alliance here.” The Scizor suggested. “I'll fight for you two, but in return you have to watch my back while I investigate the arena.”

“But that'll be difficult.” Gao protested. “All the Pokemon used in the arena battles are kept under lock and key.”

“Then you'd better find a way to compromise.”

“I don't know if…if I can…”

Hmm, I don't have time for them to be difficult. Time for plan B.

“Fine.” Nightslice turned his attention towards his hostage and snapped his pincers. “You afraid of these things, bird?”

“Hey, I'm a Garuda you know?” Tsubasa protested.

“Have it your way then, Garuda.” Nightslice sneered, bring his pincer forward.

“What…what are you doing? No! No! Please!” Tsubasa wore a mask of terror as Nightslice dragged the sharp side of his pincer partway across the base of the Garuda's neck. It was a small cut that revealed a bit of the birdman's red blood.

Nightslice then let go and shoved Tsubasa into his companion.

“What did you do?” Tsubasa yelled, wiping the blood with his wing.

“One thing you probably didn't know about us Scizors.” Nightslice stared him in the eye. “Is that our pincers here, are tipped with a deadly and lethal poison.”

“Le…lethal?” Tsubasa's eyes went wide.

“Oh, don't worry. You'll have about 36 hours warning first.” Nightslice folded his arms. “More than enough time to feel all the pain and agony before you die.”

“It…it can't be! You're…you're bluffing! You must be!”

“Self denial won't help anything. But I suppose if you want to test it out, by all means.” Nightslice huffed, turning his back. “You'll slowly lose voluntary control of your limbs and muscles, then lose the ability to move then at all. And by that time, the pain creeping in through your internals will be way too much to bear. So much that you'll want to do nothing but scream.”

Tsubasa was visibly beginning to tremble.

“However, you won't be able to because your mouth will no longer move. You'll be struggling just to breathe as your senses die out. Sight, smell, hearing….everything. And…”

“No…no…” The Garuda was suddenly on his knees. “You have an antidote, don't you?”

“Of course, I can easily detoxify the venom. Provided you help me that is.” Nightslice gestured to himself. “My offer still stands.”

“And how do we know that you'll keep your promise?” Gao cut in.

“I can only give you my word, upon my honor as a warrior.” Nightslice replied. “And I know you two can only give them same thing when it comes to terms of trust.”

“Ok, I'll do it! Anything!” Tsubasa turned towards his friend. “You're in too right?”

“Of course.” Gao nodded. “I won't leave you hanging bro.”

They seem like good enough folk. Nightslice thought. Man, I hate to pull such a nasty trick on them, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

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Sticking the sword into the stony ground, Storm kicked off the ledge and took to the sky. The two Charizard guards separated as Storm dashed between them, making a 360 degrees turn and charging back. One of them sent off several short bursts of flames, which Firestorm dodged before slamming the dragon in the stomach.

Even as the first guard went spinning, the second attacked, being close enough to slash with his claws. Storm retaliated with his own claws, knocking his opponent's swipes away before flying up. The enemy Charizard gave chase, shooting off bursts of flames from behind.

Firestorm dodged several of them, then abruptly stopped and allowed himself to drop. As a result, his opponent whizzed past him, giving Storm a clear shot at his back. And he made full use of that opportunity, sending a Fire Blast attack straight into his foe's body.

The Charizard guard screamed and went spinning out of control.

By this time, the first attacker had recovered and pounced on Storm from behind. Storm struggled desperately as his foe bit into his shoulder. He reached back and grabbed his opponent's head, feeling his own blood tricking down his arms.

Fighting both the winds and his foe, Firestorm swung back and forth in the air, finally managing to find the canyon's wall. He shoved back and slammed his opponent against the jaggered wall with a splitting crunch. Still, his enemy held tight, forcing Firestorm to bang his head again and again, until their section of the wall was covered with blood.

BAM! With a final burst of energy, Firestorm broke free and cracked the other Charizard's neck against the stone surface. The lifeless body dropped down into the raging river below.

Enraged, the remaining Charizard guard charged in a berserker rage. Storm was taken by surprise at the ferocity of the attack, being pounded against the bloodstained wall more than once. In desperation, Firestorm stabbed his claws into the other Charizard's body, causing him to howl in pain.

Weakened, Firestorm kicked his opponent away and dropped back towards the ledge where he'd left Dan and the sword. His opponent flipped around and came straight back towards him.

Got to…make this work! Firestorm moved into a spinning maneuver and turned his back to his foe, taking hold of the sword. The other Charizard was almost upon him when Firestorm turned and swung the blade.

In a spray of blood, his foe's chest was sliced open. With a gurgled cry, the Charizard guard hurled into the wall and slid off, dropping down into the depths of the river as well.

Panting, Firestorm dragged himself onto the ledge and flopped down.

(That was a good show.) Lombadra remarked.

“It doesn't feel like a victory…it's far too empty.” Firestorm muttered, looking down at his bloodstained claws.

(What's wrong?)

“They weren't the enemy.” Firestorm muttered. “I could feel it from them. They were just trying to defend their homeland. But they were deceived, and now…I've killed them…”

“You're not a bad person.” Dan walked over and wiped Firestorm's face. “Even I can feel that.”

(Yeah, you already know who your enemy is. And it's the people like them, people like your friends that you're fighting for. So pick yourself up, or are you getting soft on me?)

“Humph, you can't keep a good dragon down for long.” Firestorm pulled himself up. “So, guys, better fill me in on the entire situation here…”

 

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“So, how was I?” Nightslice asked, glancing down at the screen.

“Raking up all the wins.” Gao gestured towards the screen on a laptop, which was flicking between images of Nightslice's various battles in the arena. “I don't know how you learnt to fight like that, but you're good. Really good.”

“Well, I learnt from the best.” Nightslice smirked.

From Kris that is…

Amongst the screens was a scene of Nightslice ducking beneath a Salamence's sweeping claw strike to slash it in the back and another of himself spraying an odd looking psychic-type Claydol with Pin Missiles from his mouth.

The two turned at the creaking of the door to see Tsubasa entering the dimly lit storeroom. With the tip of his wing, the Garuda clicked the lock shut.

“Did we have to choose a storeroom to hide out in?” He muttered.

“Well, it was the only place I could think of, given the time limitations.” Gao scratched his head.

“Anyway, here.” Tsubasa tossed a small leather pouch onto the table. “Our winnings, thanks to Nightslice over here. Definitely enough to get us out of debt.”

“I got that much already?” Nightslice whistled as Gao counted the money.

“After your first win, I just kept betting on everything we had.” Tsubasa explained. “So each round, the amount essentially doubled.”

“Hm, I've kept my promise then.” Nightslice turned back towards Gao. “You found out anything about my friend?”

“Yeah, she'll be in the next match as well. Klinge, the Saber Dragon she's fighting under, will be at the grandstand.” Gao looked up. “I guessed that he'd enter this tournament, that's why we entered you as well.”

“Grrr…he's the first one I'll be taking out.”

“Don't get too hasty. I don't think you can fight an entire army by yourself.”

“This final match is a rumble-style battle.” Tsubasa added in. “It means that you're in the arena with who knows how many other fighters and duke it out till only one remains standing.”

“That image.” Nightslice pointed towards a screen of Klinge, with Kris, in her Scizor form, standing by his side. “What's that around her neck?”

“They're shock collars.” Tsubasa replied. “Most of the masters around here use them to discipline their fighters. But try to pull them off and BAM! They practically kill you by electrocution.”

“Hmm…if Klinge starts shocking her, it'll be hard for me to do anything about it.”

“Perhaps I can modify this one here.” Gao held up a similar collar. “If I can wire this thing to react to the other collars, anyone's collar within several feet of your position will be deactivated.”

“Then I could get hers off?”

“Provided this works that is.” Gao muttered, fumbling with a screwdriver.

“Better hurry bro.” Tsubasa spoke up. “Hear those bells? The final match will be starting soon…”

 

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“So this is the place?” Firestorm pointed.

“Yeah, I saw them standing here.” Dan nodded. “Then this platform opened and they fell in.”

“It doesn't seem to be opening now though.” Storm muttered. “Even then, I don't know if it's wise to go in through the front door…hmm?”

Firestorm pulled Dan by the scruff of his neck and dragged him behind a pile of boulders. His keen sense of hearing was rewarded by the entrance of Bashaamo, who was leaping up the mountainside, using the ledges for support. She stopped by the ledge the two had been on earlier and begun feeling around the rocky surface.

In a flash, Firestorm leapt out and grabbed the Blaziken from behind, holding his sword against her throat.

“Should've expected that you'd be here.” Firestorm growled.

“Humph, I'll give you credit for catching me off guard.” Bashaamo replied calmly.

“Open the door.” Firestorm tightened his grip. “Or else…”

Snarling, Bashaamo pushed a section of the wall, which slid inwards and revealed an opening in the mountainside. Firestorm spread his wings and descended the winding tunnel.

Bashaamo said nothing as they emerged into the cavern, lit only by the rows of candles on either side. All of a sudden, Bashaamo stamped on Storm's foot, causing him to let go and cry out in pain. The swift Blaziken then disappeared into the shadows.

(She got you on that one buddy.) Lombadra muttered unhappily.

“And I think we're about to have company! Rargh!” Firestorm rolled to avoid a Marcargo's Flamethrower and returned the blast with one of his own.

Dan landed with a thump after sliding down the tunnel. He saw Firestorm charging into the midst of the Slugma troop, bashing them left and right with his powerful tail. Fear took hold of the young lizard again as Dan crouched behind a boulder and closed his eyes.

(Hey kid…) It was Lombadra's voice. (Find the stone figure Jade was turned into and get it to Firestorm. You have to trust me on this one!)

“But I…”

(I know you're afraid. You're still young. But you wanted to prove that you'll turn out as a great warrior someday, didn't you?)

“Yeah, I know.” Dan nodded.

(Then now's the time to take hold of the courage! Go for it kid!)

“Um!”

The Charmander held his breath and sprang out from his hiding place. Running along the sides of the cavern, Dan was small enough to go unnoticed in the midst of the battle. He did, however, stop and hide as several huge shadows appeared.

Dan recognized Elder Tsung and Bashaamo from before. But now they were being accompanied by a gigantic creature he could only describe as a golem made entirely of rock with a featureless face…. Regirock.

“Man Firestorm already has his claws full and they're still coming?” Dan whispered. “I've got to hurry!”

Making sure the bad guys were gone, Dan resumed his dash and stopped by concealed cupboard. It was fortunate that someone had left it partially open, or he wouldn't have noticed it. And inside it were all the small, stone Charizard figures. Several of them were giving off muffled squeaks as Dan scanned through them.

As much as he wanted to save all of them, Dan knew he wouldn't be able to carry them.

Come on! Which one is he?

Dan then spotted the stone figure of his sister and snatched it up.

“Dan…” Diane's voice was soft and weak, making Dan hold the figurine up to his ear to hear her.

“Sis, you have to tell me which one is Jade! It's really important!”

“Bottom…left…” Diane struggled.

“This one? Yeah I think it is!” Dan grabbed one of the stone figurines. “Hey Jade! You in there?”

The stone figurine didn't answer and Dan wondered if he could be unconscious in that kind of state. When Firestorm's roar of pain suddenly sounded from down the corridor, Dan decided to trust his gut feeling. Taking hold of both stone Charizard figures, the young Charmander raced back towards his friend's position.

 

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Kris barely remembered stepping into the battle arena. Her pervious days had been too much of a blur to even think much. But once the bell sounded to begin the battle royal, but only though on her mind was survival.

Various beams and projectile attacks were suddenly flying everywhere as she dodged.

A massive Aggron clashed against a Typhlosion nearby, and Kris steered clear of that confrontation. She knocked a whizzing Gligar out of the way as she searched for some sort of an opening amongst the battle thirsty crowd.

Suddenly, a strong grip caught her from behind.

“Kris! Listen! It's me!” A familiar voice called.

“Nightslice?” Kris cranked her neck to see the other Scizor behind her.

“Play along and look like you're struggling.” Nightslice whispered, wrapping his arms around her neck.

“What the heck are you doing here?” Kris continued, feinting a struggle.

“It's a long story, but I'm here to rescue you.”

“Not a very good job if you're in here too.”

“Well, I've got a couple of friends on the sidelines working things out for me.”

“Ha resourceful as always.” Kris managed a laugh.

“Hang on, this'll be quick.” Nightslice reached for her collar.

“Hey what are you…”

With a snap, Nightslice snipped it off. Kris closed her eyes, but felt nothing of the electric shocks that were supposed to come.

“Little handy work from my friends.” Nightslice smirked, pulling his own collar off as well. “So what do you say? We blow this joint?”

“Thought you'd never ask.”

“Where's Bahamut by the way?”

“They kept him in one of the storage lockers upstairs. Guess they figured a Scizor doesn't need a sword in this arena.”

“We'll have to do without him then.” Nightslice frowned.

“Yeah, won't be easy.” Kris agreed. “There's a lot of tough competition here.”

“Then, what are we waiting for?”

The pair looked into each other's eyes and nodded, before `forcing' each other away and dashing to opposite ends of the arena.

 

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It was dark inside the locker room and the Shadow Drake serving as a guard yawned. Hardly anyone came by this corridor and he figured that it wouldn't hurt to get a few winks of sleep. He'd been missing a lot of that lately.

Suddenly, a shadow passed over him and the Shadow Drake snapped up. However, he was much too slow and the intruder slammed him in the face, knocking the unwary dragon out without a sound. The intruder caught his unconscious body before it even hit the ground and quickly stuffed him into a nearby locker.

Yellow armored claws reached out and searched through each locker in turn, until they came to the one thing they wanted….the sword that held Bahamut's spirit.

The ancient dragon spirit within the sword was initially startled at being `let' out of the darkness. However, what surprised him even more was the intruder itself.

(You…you're…) Bahamut gasped.

However, he could do nothing in his current sword form as the intruder snatched him from his position within the locker.

 

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“Rargh!” Firestorm hissed, clutching his left shoulder. “That hurt!”

(Well duh, the guy just threw a huge rock at it.) Lombadra's voice sounded from the sword on the floor, where Firestorm had dropped him.

“Shut up! You're not helping you know?”

(I would if I could, but…)

The remaining Marcargo started pounding the floor again, shaking more rocks loose from the ceiling. Firestorm lowered his body and charged, dodging between the rocks. He was right in front of the Marcargo when he stopped and flipped over his opponent.

The other fire-type was slow to turn and Firestorm readied his Iron Tail as he landed. The Marcargo was just in time to catch Firestorm's glowing tail attack as it smashed into his face, slamming him into the wall.

“Hargh! Whew…” Firestorm stood panting amongst the army of defeated Slugma. “All right, who's next?'

A soft click echoed through the cave, causing Firestorm to instinctively move. A blob of grayish goop splattered on the spot he'd been standing on.

“Swift move.” An older Charizard, Tsung, moved into view, holding his strange bazooka-type weapon.

“You can save your praise for when I wipe the floor with your ass!” Storm yelled. “Now, do I have to ask you to release the captured Charizard, or should I go do it myself?”

“You highly overestimate your chances.” Tsung snapped his fingers.

The Regirock golem slowly rose out of the ground nearby. At the same time, Storm felt the stones trembling at his feet. But before he could move, the ground rose up and wrapped itself around his legs.

Rock Tomb! Storm realized. Got to get out fast, before it…

Bashaamo interrupted his thoughts by leaping in and delivering a hard kick to his face. She grabbed the stunned Charizard by the neck and hurled him towards the back of the cavern. Firestorm had barely gotten up when Bashaamo sumersalted behind him and grabbed him.

“This is the proper way to chokehold a victim.” She smirked.

“Grrr….arrrgghh!”

“This is over.” Tsung calmly raised his weapon.

“Oh no you don't!” Dan shouted as he came dashing in.

With a fierce growl, the Charmander ran between Bashaamo's legs and sank his fangs into her ankle. The female screamed in pain, releasing her hold enough for Firestorm to take control. The Charizard pulled his opponent over his shoulders and slammed her back against the ground.

Getting down on all fours, Firestorm ran along the ground, holding Bashaamo's arm in his jaws and dragging her along. Tsung was startled by the sudden turn of events and hesitated for too long. Firestorm shoved Bashaamo forward.

The Blaziken slid along the floor and ploughed into her companions, taking all three down. Tsung's weapon hit the stony surface hard, crackling with electricity as it overloaded and shorted out.

“Dammit!” The traitorous Charizard cursed.

“Thanks.” Firestorm breathed as he retrieved Lombadra's sword. “I needed that one.”

“You should take this too.” Dan tossed him Jade's stone figurine and ducked behind a boulder for cover. “That's Jade, or what he's been turned into at least.”

“Great, now how do I fix him?” Firestorm asked, shifting Lombadra about.

(Just try to meld. As long as it's really Jade, it'll work.)

“And if it's not?”

(You'll just overcharge your body and get yourself fried to a crisp.)

“Oh, how optimistic…” Storm groaned sarcastically.

“Overheat!” Bashaamo was back on her feet and had sent a huge wave of flames towards their position.

“Lombadra! Do it now!” Firestorm yelled as the flames engulfed them.

“Grrr…” Bashaamo squinted, trying to make out the effects of her attack.

The flames suddenly dispersed, leaving a single figure standing there. It was a humanoid dragon, colored mainly in white with red armored sections. The Kanji symbol for Fire glowed in the center of his chest as the dragon roared, lashing his tail about and spreading wings made out of fire from his back.

From behind his cover, Dan stared in awe as the dragon waved his claw, giving him a quick thumbs-up.

“Finally, it was getting rather cramped in there.” Lombadra hissed, cracking his neck.

“Humph, well met then, Fire Dragon.” Bashaamo stepped into a fighting stance.

(Well, if I'm in here, that means that it worked.) Firestorm laughed. (Hey Jade! Jade?)

(Ugh…) Jade's voice was soft and weak. (Storm? You're here? What…)

(Don't ask too many questions now. Leave it to Lombadra.)

Ignoring the chatter in his mind, Lombadra leaned forward and sprayed a burst of flames from his jaws.

“Flamethrower!”

Bashaamo dodged, her Agility ability kicking in as she approached his position. In a flash, she lashed out with a Blaze Kick. Lombadra jumped back and slashed with both his claws, knocking her backwards.

The nimble warrior bounded off the wall and came right back. However, Lombadra was already one step ahead and ducked beneath her aerial attack. Bracing himself against the ground, Lombadra prepared for an upwards strike as Bashaamo's eyes widened.

“Fire Punch!” Lombadra roared, throwing off a full-forced uppercut.