Path From Ascension

[Drago]

My series, based off our members and my interpretation of their activities on here and previous conversations. Meant as a tribute to another site, it will be updated and produced to match this one instead. Despite whatever roles you may have in the story, know I love you all. First chapter will be the next post.

 

[Drago]

Chapter 1

Spoiler

Let's begin...

In the World of Unima Frome (what you know as Earth), Civilization had drastically changed after magic was discovered in the world. Not technologically, but in their biology. Humans developed animalistic features to survive in a harsh and changing world darkened by humans and beasts misusing a power they didn't yet understand. However, a group of humans in two regions and a family of mythical creatures learned to harness and control this mysterious set of abilities. These would become the leaders & governing forces of their respective kingdoms.

The clan who would eventually come to call themselves the Magician's Guild controls the Kingdom of Magnolia. These humans learned to fully control the magic power within themselves and in their surroundings. The leader of the clan is given the title of "Merlin," the original mage and founder of the Treasury system. They invented the concept of money & created an international currency, preventing inflation for the world.

An honorable group of humans who learned to control the magic within themselves, but not the environment would come to call themselves the Royal Guard. They're knights & noblemen who rule over the Kingdom of Camelot, the largest of the nations in the world. The title of "King Arthur" is given to the leader of this clan after the original King. He founded the Bureau of Defense and invented the concepts of Blacksmithing & Metallurgy, creating tough weapons and armor for protection from magic wielding animals.

Our last group is who our story focuses around and is the smallest of the major clans. While still technically human, their DNA is closer to that of dragons and subsequently refer to themselves as the "Dragon's Fangs." They rule over the Kingdom of Bern, which lies between the countries of Magnolia and Camelot. "Bahamut" is the title given to the leader of this clan of dragons. Named after the original leader and founder of "Lycia," a group dedicated to keeping peace & order in the world (This is what the UN is supposed to be on Earth). He is the inventor of meditation & the concept of energy control, leading to many known martial arts in the world.

Our story starts in a throne room with a bodyguard job being reluctantly fulfilled by a young dragon for a important magician from another clan that he knew from long ago.
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"You're so boring." a blonde, hyperactive mage said to her bodyguard, who was currently laying on the ground in front of her. "You didn't use to be this lifeless. What happened to you, Draggie?"

The young, emerald scaled dragon with canine features looks back over his shoulder and gives an emotionless response. "Destruction happened." She squints her hazel eyes at him, then looks away.

"Don't blame the Guild for your animosity." She said annoyed. "You dragons and those knights made Master Shineman lose his way. He was a key representative in Lycia until that condescending jerk Jcoss and the indecisive Krill refused to even try to see things his way. You guys turned him into that incarnation of Destruction." He simply turns his head back around and rests his head on his forearms.

"Whatever you say, Kat." he said before closing his blue eyes. "Neither of us fought in that war because we were locked up at the time. For your refusal to take part in the war, I was forced into an isolated facility to try to take advantage my clan's reputation of peace. I wasn't even allowed to see my sister." Kat starts poking her pointer fingers together. "I couldn't prevent Spi-" His ears perk up, then his eyes shoot open and he quickly stands on all fours, scanning the area.

"What's going on?" Kat asked cheerfully, glad to change the subject.

"We have a guest in the room." Drago responded as he sniffed the air. "Alright, fun's over. We're here to meet with the Royal Guard representative, Tadashi and the Dragon's Fang rep, Sukichu. This is a mission of peace." A large ball of unknown energy appears in front of Drago.

"So sorry to interrupt your important mission, but let's just say I have a problem with some minor details in its design." The ball explodes and reveals two men. One wearing robes who appears to be the mage & her bodyguard's age with weird symbols floating around him. The other was a slightly younger male in his teens wearing knight's armor and a glowing blade at his side. Both are surrounded by an aura of ill intent. "I refuse to allow a proud mage to rely on a lizard for protection."

"Shineman?" Kat says nervously. "It's not like I asked for a bodyguard, but when I was told it was my older brother, Drago, I couldn't say no." Drago stands with his arms crossed listening intently for any sudden movement, stress marks appearing at the word "lizard."

"It's Negative now." He corrected. "Kind of hard to call myself Shineman when my spells no longer use spectral energy as a base. Now calm your pet down before I have the Freak here slay him." Drago drops his arms & Kat puts out hers to stop him as the knight grabs the hilt of his blade, maintaining a serious look on his face.

"You no longer use light energy?" Kat asked, perplexed at why he would stop using the magic he loves so much. "Prove it." He simply smirks.

"Sure." The symbols surrounding him glow a black color as he points to Drago before making a grabbing motion. Drago's neck is wrapped up by a dark energy that begins squeezing on it. He lets out a pain filled roar, falls to his knees and reaches for his neck as Kat turns around to see what happened.

"Drago!" She finds the rings and gets quickly irritated. "Shineman, stop this right now! He's done nothing to you!"

"Yes," he retorted. "...and I intend to keep it that way. A wild animal is a ticking time bomb just waiting to kill someone. And it's Negative."

"Let him go!"

"Hold your tongue! You're a thousand years too soon to be facing off against me!"

"How about me?" a voice said before the rings around Drago's neck break apart, allowing him to breathe."

"Who's there?" Kat asked looking around. She notices Shineman's guard looking around as well. "He can't sense him either..."

"Jcoss..." Drago said regaining his composure.

"Well, at least your ears work, youngling." said the silver scaled, wind dragon as he appeared in a small tornado behind the one now known as Negative and his guard. "Now if only we could work on that trust issue." Negative turns around and faces Jcoss, smirking.

"I didn't expect to see you here." the dark mage points out. "And do what do I owe the pleasure of receiving the Cyclone Fang's presence?" His guard, Kat & Drago are all sweating bullets for the possible clash of these two heavyweights.

"My reasons for being here are no concern of yours. However, your actions towards that young dragon are very much my business. Leave now or I will be forced to cut you down for what you've done." His short, wavy haircut started swaying in the wind he was making.

"I felt threatened, so I defended myself. It's not my fault if you lizards can't keep your egos in check. I'd take him off this mission if I was you to prevent any future 'accidents' that may happen." He smirks, staring him down.

"Is that a threat?" a silver aura rises up around him.

"Maybe." Black runes appear around him before his guard whispers in his ear. He looks annoyed and his symbols disappear. "Ah, another time then. Merlin wishes to speak with me, so I can't enjoy myself anymore today. Perhaps another time." He creates a portal with some magic runes, then walks through with a cocky smile on his face.

"How'd the courts ever allow him to walk?" his aura dies down, then he walks over and kneels down to face Drago. "Are you hurt?" He shakes his head no before Jcoss punches him in the jaw. "What were you thinking? How did you possibly think you could take on someone of Shineman's level when you don't even have your wings yet?!"

Right as Drago was about to defend himself, the doors opened and four others walked in with groups of two. "Yo, Jcoss! Didn't expect to see you here!" said a tall female with short, blue hair and dark blue wings walking in. At her side was a shorter, long-brown haired girl with tan wings who seems to be taking this assignment overly serious.

"Oh, hey Suki. The Lady sent me to overlook the meeting and make sure no unwanted annoyances disturbed it." He said standing back up.

"Isn't that why we brought security?" Asked the white haired knight wearing night black armor with white dots covering it. With him is a muscular knight wearing steel armor with gold edges.

"You can never be too safe, Sir Tadashi. I'll be watching the outside while your individual bodyguards will be watching the interior." He heads out the door to go perform his duty. "Besides, this discussion will have a bit more weight than usual."

"Alright, Loopy. Do your best!" Suki tells her escort who proceeds to salute her and meet up with the other guards.

"Eruner." Sir Tadashi simply said before his escort nods and meets up with the others.

"No need to mention what happened. Okay, Draggie?" Kat points out before the wolf like dragon gets up, pats himself off and meets with the other two looking a bit distraught before shaking it off.

"Now that everyone is here and accounted for, let us begin."
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[Drago]

Chapter 2

Spoiler

Roar! The Sapphire Dragon's Rage!

The escorts convene to place guarding assignments while the reps discuss the respective situations in each of their areas. We'll start with the bodyguards, as it'll be less interesting.
_____________________________
The knight Eruner stands with his hand on his face, annoyed with the arguing female in front of him.

"Why can't you simply take the second floor?" he asks politely. "Since you already have your wings, you could watch over the room w/o leaving your post."

"That's exactly why you should take the second floor!" she replies. "I could just fly up there in case you started having trouble! You wouldn't be able to do the same for me!"

"If that's your reasoning, then Ridley could take the position just as easily as I could. Why send me up there?"

Drago is just standing there, smiling at the two. Loopy grabs his face while still looking at Eruner.

"He's in no condition to take a large guard detail!"

"Then why is he taking any of the details? He should be resting if he's not well."

"I'm here, so he'll be fine." she said smugly, crossing her arms.

"Does anyone care what I have to say about it?" Drago interrupts, causing the confident one to notice how close she actually got.

"Of course. What do you think we should do?" the knight inquires.

"Loopy & I will cover the first floor, with me out front and her in the back." he begins to explain. "You'll take the upstairs and call if you need anything. I'll be able to hear you, then get Loopy to watch this room before heading over." He puts a hand on her shoulder, causing her to start turning red.

"You really believe that's a good idea?"

"Of course. Right, Loopy?"

Loopy shakes off his hand before walking to her assignment. "Y-yeah."

Drago looks to Eruner with confusion, who just shakes his head and makes his way upstairs.
________________________________________ _________________________

"At least he's finally showing some spirit." Kat thought, looking over.

"Miss...Kat, was it?" asks Sir Tadashi, causing Kat to turn back and nod. "I know this is your first time doing this, but could you please pay attention to the important matters here? If anything happens, Eruner will handle it."

"Right, sorry." She looks at the table before Suki speaks up.

"Don't worry about it so much, Sir Tadashi. You'll stress her out." she says, trying to get the mage's spirits back up. "For such a simple task, I'd prefer her to not think we're gonna rip her head off if she says something wrong. Loopy and Drago will be doing that enough themselves..." She looks exhausted at the thought, which makes Kat smile a little bit.

"Ms. Sukichu, these meetings are a little more important than you give them credit for." Sir Tadashi begins, visibly boring Sukichu, who's heard this many times. "They cover any financial, medical, physical and political problems your country, or any country your kingdom has dominion over, may be having. We have these every month so we are always kept informed of each other's statuses. It's one of the most important jobs one can perform for their kingdom."

"I know this, Sir Tadashi." Suki retorts, rubbing her temples. "I volunteered for this position and this isn't our first meeting together. I'm just trying to keep the new rep for the Guild in the right set of mind for this."

"She isn't the new representative." a voice says before a vortex shows up, revealing a witch with fox ears and red hair showing up, wearing a low cut top. "She's just filling in until I could get here."

"How is it the only group who can teleport is usually the one who's late?" Suki asks, clearly annoyed.

"What did I miss?"

"A lecture from Sir Tadashi."

"So, nothing new?" Kat stands up and she sits down. "Kat, you can head back now if you wish. I'll handle it from here."

"Sure, Master Blue!" Kat says before poofing into a pile of fiery feathers.

"Here's the status of Magnolia..." She began.
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Drago is walking through halls in the front of castle, still confused.
"I wonder why she won't say anything to me?"

"Sounds like you like her!" Drago jumps up, surprised. He's surrounded by feathers before Kat hops on his back. "I can talk to her for you. She and I are long time friends."

"Why are you here? I thought you were meeting with the others?" he asks completely ignoring her statements.

"Master Fullblue showed up, so I get to go home now. I just decided to visit my big brother one more time before I left!" She hugs him after saying the last part.

"Oh, okay. Be careful on your way back home, alright?" He hugs her back before letting go.

"I'm an expert mage, you know! I'm probably stronger than you!" She put up a "V" with her pinky and ring finger.

"Glad to hear it, sis." He smiles. "I'll try to visit you soon, okay?"

"Okay! Later!" She poofs away.

"Back to business." He reaches into a hallway, grabs a ninja and slams him into the wall. "If you can't mask your scent, you don't stand a chance." He opens up a window, then throws the intruder out of it.

A gust of wind catches him and he gets pulled elsewhere. "That's 3 for me." He closes the window, then continues his patrol. "I don't see why anyone would want to interrupt these meetings anyway..."
________________________________________ ___________________________

"That's it for the status of Bern and its surrounding territories." Sukichu finishes reporting.

"You say your people are becoming riled up. Why is this?" Tadashi questions.

"I was actually going to ask you two about that. Our citizens speak of rumors involving a dish known as 'Dragon Stew.' This is making them restless and paranoid. Any idea what that is?" she asks, unintentionally covering the table in a bit of ice by grabbing it.

"It's a delicacy in Magnolia." answers Fullblue, who smirks. "It's a favorite of mine as well."

"Please tell me it's just a fancy name and I can reassure our citizens that there's no real danger." Sukichu says, sapphire eyes glowing.

"Of course. It's made of a specific, rare meat." The room starts to grow cold.

"And just what would that be?" The mage starts grinning widely.

"Dragon tail." Sukichu slams her hands on the table and her wings spread wide, releasing a cold gust of wind freezing the chamber behind her.

"I'll kill you, witch!" Right as the blue dragon was about to jump across the table to attack the mage, she finds a shimmering, white blade in front of her.

"Calm down, Ms. Sukichu." He pulls his blade back and looks at Fullblue. "You better be joking, madam. That's a blatant breach of treaty otherwise."

"I'm simply playing with the lizard." she mocks. "I bet their meat tastes terrible."

"Rrrrr, we're done here!" she backs away from the table and "Loopy, we're leaving!" roars through the castle.
________________________________________ __________________________

"Seems as if we may have been right about the rumors." thought the silver dragon, as he appears to stand on nothing in his black Gi above the castle.
________________________________________ __________________________

"Ms. Sukichu, please be rational!" Tadashi speaks up. "Let's try to leave on good terms with one another, as to not spark unnecessary conflict."

The dragon known as the "Fang of the Frozen Sea" simply turns around, releases a surge of power and creates an image of a roaring dragon's head pointing towards the red headed Kitsune. She then turns back around and continues to the exit as the image melts behind her.

The door to the room opens and the tan dragon walks in. "Here, Suki!"

Sukichu walks out the door, past Loopy. "Since Kat left earlier, grab Drago before you head outside. I'm getting Jcoss." She turns right, goes down the hall and turns left to exit the bastion.

"Yes, ma'am!" She doesn't get very far and finds the emerald dragon walking up, rubbing his ears.

"Ugh, what was that all about...?"

"Oh right, your hearing. I don't know what happened, but Suki did NOT look happy. I suggest we wait a while before asking her." Drago nods to show he can hear now.

"Understood. It'll be a more interesting trip back at least. I came here by myself after all..." Loopy goes down the same path Sukichu did and was followed by her companion.

......

"By the way, Kat spoke to me on the way out."

This sparks some interest in him. "What'd she say?"

She turns red and runs up to Sukichu & Jcoss without saying anything. The latter tells the young dragons to hurry up.

"Wait, what'd she say?" He runs up and they go on their way.
________________________________________ ______________________________

"That was unnecessary." Tadashi glares at Fullblue.

"She asked, so I answered." the orange eyed mage retorted, melting the ice to warm up the room. "I don't see the problem."

"You confirmed her suspicions! Even with my interference, Bern will no doubt investigate this further!"

"It shouldn't be a problem. I can handle any gecko that opposes me." she says confidently. "Even if I couldn't, Merlin would think of something."

"You're causing unneeded confli-" he's quickly interrupted.

"Your lectures are boring. I actually agree with her on that." she stated before warping out.

Sir Tadashi leaves the room slightly worried, knowing full well what that image from before meant. He also knew what the titles of the Warrior Dragons (Claw, Wing, Scale, Fang) meant, having fought them in the war.

"Claws" were those whose abilities focused primarily on offense. Typically chosen to end one on one conflicts quickly. A mental image of Drago appears.
"Wings" were messengers. Speed is their forte and they could give orders to troops faster than anyone. Loopy appears as the example.
"Scales" were those with great defensive abilities. Superb warriors who could hold a position for insurmountable amounts of time. A black scaled dragon with red hair appears.
"Fangs" were the scariest though. Images of Suki and Jcoss appear in the same fashion as the others. These were the true definitions of fear for anyone on the battlefield. Stronger than a Claw, faster than a Wing and and tougher than a Scale, these select few were the generals for the reptiles' military. You did not want to end up fighting them. Even for him, had it not been for Sir Pac...

He clears his mind, then leaves the chamber as well.

"Eruner, report back." He walks upstairs and finds the halls more disturbing than he remembered. "Eruner?" He continues until he finds a blood covered wall...
________________________________________ ____________________________________

"You're really not gonna tell me?" Drago asks, still curious.

"I will." Loopy responds. "Why do you wanna know so badly, anyway?"

"You keep turning red." he smiles like an idiot.

"Adfownefjwoef-" she does just that and freezes in place.

Drago suddenly stops, ears twitching, then starts rushing back to the castle.

"H-hey!" Loop yells. "Where are you going?!"

"I got him." Jcoss states, walking back. "You two keep going and-"

"Eruner!!!" a voice in the distance yells, answering why he went running back.

"You guys head back! I'll grab Drago and catch up." He starts flying back to the meeting spot. "Damn, kid. Why do you insist on doing things like this?"

.....

"Are we actually going back?" Loopy asks her sister.

"Of course we aren't!" she responds before going to catch up with the others.
____________________________________

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: (chapter 3)

The Twins, Knights and a Traitor?

Jcoss, followed by Loopy and Sukichu, arrive back at the bastion and find Drago running through the halls and up the stairs to a blood covered hallway. There, they find Sir Tadashi kneeling over a severely injured Eruner. A few meters down are a couple of purple, lifeless bodies on the floor.

"What happened here...?" a stunned emerald dragon asks as the others catch up.

"Drago, assist Loopy, who I know followed me back..." Jcoss starts, giving an annoyed look. She and Sukichu walk up with guilty looks and wait for instructions. "...in tending to our friend's wounds."

"Right!"

"Of course!"

They rush over and begin removing Eruner's armor as Tadashi stands to speak with Jcoss and Sukichu. Drago is searing the wounds closed after Loopy removes any shrapnel. They also remove some unknown substance they find on his wounds. Drago whispers to Loopy. "Something doesn't seem right."

"I agree, but let's keep it to ourselves for now." he nods in agreement.

"The obvious question comes first. What happened here?" Jcoss questions as Sukichu walks up.

"Some assassins came in during the meeting and snuck attack Eruner. I struck them down after finding them boasting in their temporary victory." Tadashi explains. "They seemed to have poisoned him. He isn't waking, no matter my efforts."

"You found them celebrating?" Sukichu questions.

"Over an obvious sneak attack, the fools! Had they continued in their mission instead, they might have been able to get to the meeting in time!"

"How do you know it wasn't a fight? What makes you think it was a sneak attack?" she gives a confused look. Jcoss stands silent the whole time.

"Foul play is the only possible conclusion! Eruner should have easily taken these weaklings out!"

"Calm down, Sir Tadashi, I understand. Good job in taking out the assailants."

"Of course."

"If you don't mind, we'd like to take Eruner back with us so we can treat him. We have the finest doctors around, considering he doesn't trust most mages. We'll allow you to pick one of our dragons to escort you back."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Just keep us updated on his condition." Tadashi walks downstairs and leaves.

"You get all that?" Jcoss asks, eyes appearing from the shadows.

"Yes, sir." A female voice sounds. "I'm more than sure he's lying."

"Xenx'i? When'd you get here?" Sukichu asks, a confused look on her face.

"Jcoss requested my assistance on his way back to the castle. I got here through his shadow."

"You can head back now. Give the Lady your report." Jcoss orders. The eyes close and she leaves.

"We heading back now?" Loopy asks. Drago has Eruner over his shoulder.

"Yes. Let's go."
___________________________

The group heads back to Bern and has Eruner treated properly for his injuries. He's put on life support and is only allowed certain visitors. In the bed next to him is a familiar red headed dragon...

"He was put on life support, huh?" Drago asks a blonde, black scaled dragon in a doctor's coat.

"Yep, he's in a coma from the pain, but his life signs are at least steady now. He was hell when you brought him in." the doctor replies. Drago sighs and looks to the red-head.

"What's the word on Spinal's recovery?"

The doctor looks to the red-head and flips to a page labeled Spinal. "He should actually be out by the end of this month. He's super tough!"

"I'll never get used to a doctor speaking that way, even if it's you, Itsuki." he slaps his palm onto his forehead.

"Well, whatever. Shut up and get out already. I got other patients to tend to."

Drago and Itsuki shake hands, then the former walks outside, rolls up the sleeves on his green & black jacket and meets up with Loopy and two more dragons. A boy and girl with white and blonde hair respectively wearing a yellow & black jacket with red cargo pants and a black jacket with a rainbow skirt. Loopy is wearing an untucked pink blouse with white jeans.

"When'd the twins get here?" Drago asks, high-5ing the dude.

"Dark and Maka got here just now. Krill and Cast said they were on there way to the cafe if you wanna head over." Loopy suggests. "It could help us get our minds off what's happening."

"And you freaking need it!" Dark speaks up. "You're acting so uncool right now, it's making me sick. Hahaha!" He gets hit over the head by Maka, who grabs him and Drago and starts dragging both of them there.

"You're both being uncool right now, so I'll drag you there myself!" she says annoyed. Loopy follows behind, giggling.
_____________________________________

They arrive at the cafe and meet up with Sir Krill and Madam Cast. Krill has a black fade and is wearing a blue shirt with an orange, sleeveless shirt on top of it, along with orange training pants and metal guards on his shoulders, elbows, knees and over his boots. Cast has a long, blonde ponytail and is wearing a pink shirt with a white cat (wearing a bow) on it and a long white skirt.

"Hello!" Cast greets as the dragons arrive. Krill is drinking from a mug, so he doesn't greet them right away.

"Hey, guys!" Maka greets back. "What's up?"

"Well, to get straight to the point, we want to spar." Krill says, his drink finished.

"You wanna fight here?" Drago questions.

"Of course not." the orange knight answers. "Let's take this to the courts!"

Loopy is staring at Cast's shirt with a look of want in her eyes. "Is something up?" she asks the awestruck dragon.

"I want your shirt." she replies. Cast puts her hand on the girl's head.

"That's adorable. How about this, Loops? I'll take you with me shopping next time you're in town!"

Loopy nods excitedly as Dark taps her shoulder to show Krill, Drago and Maka already walking towards their destination.

"Hey, wait up!" the girls yell.
_________________________________

"It seems things are about to become really fun!" says a black mage watching from across the street. He then disappears in a ball of chaos energy.
_________________________________

The group arrives at an enormous purple multiplex and walk in and up to the counter to sign up for a room. The receptionist greets them in a welcoming tone.

"Welcome to Our Gospel Courts, where we fulfill all your recreational needs! From Art & Crafts to Martial Arts, if you wanna try it, we'll help you out! How can I help you today?"

"Hello, we'd like to rent out the large combat room." Krill says, handing her a card.

"Oh, I see you're a premium member! Usually, we have someone come down and show you to your room, but you seem to have a long history with us, so you probably already know your way around one of these places." She hands him back his card.

"Yup! And here's the payment. Don't worry, I already know how much it is." he says, handing her 94 bits.

"Thank you for your patronage." he gives a salute, then leads everyone to the back. They arrive at a set of double doors and walk inside to find a large, white room.

"Now, let's decide teams." Krill says, holding out his fist. "Janken!"
__________________________________

Jcoss and Sukichu arrive in their leader's chamber to plan peace negotiations in order to avoid possible war with Magnolia. They speak with their current Bahamut, known simply as "The Lady." The brown haired, peach scaled dragon is listening to one of her loyal Fangs.

"I apologize for actions, milady." Sukichu begins. "I let my temper get the better of me and made the Kingdom of Bern, and thus you, look unreasonable and quick to anger. I'll accept any punishment you bestow upon me."

"Stand up, Suki." she orders with an emotionless face. Sukichu does so. "Come over here."

Sukichu walks up to the throne with a distraught look on her face. The Lady stands up, stares her in the eyes, then cracks a smile and runs her hand through the sapphire dragon's hair wildly. Right as she reaches up to fix her hair, she gets a big hug from her leader."This isn't like you. Relax a little. I'll go speak with Kanoke and have him smooth things out with Morgana. Everything will be alright." she explains.

"But, I almost caused a war!" Sukichu begins, tearing up.

"Girl, I almost caused 3 wars before lunch! You just have to know how to calm angry politicians down. It's usually Morgana, so I'll just have Sir Pac calm her down. Ever since he retired, she's eased up quite a bit. So relax already!" She wipes her eyes and bows in thanks to her.

"And on the other matter?" Jcoss asks, finally speaking up.

"I'm not sure about Negative's motives, but have Xenx'i send a message to Saber. They may have a traitor in their mists."

"Yes, milady." He bows and leaves.
_______________________________

"This is so unfair!" Dark yells, with Loopy and Krill at his side.

"You won at Rock, Paper, Scissors, so you got to pick first! What're you complaining about?" Drago yells back with Cast and Maka at his side.

"Whatever! Let's go already!"

"Everyone ready?" a girl sounds out through an intercom. "3! 2! 1! Start!"
________________________________

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: Chapter 4

Let the Games begin!

"3,2,1, start!"

Krill pulls out his claymore and clashes with Drago in the center of the room, who swipes his sword away every swing, but can't seem to get a hit in. In fact, he felt more and more sluggish as he swiped the attacks to the side. There seemed to be a light coming from the hilt...

"I can't let that blade touch me!" Drago thinks as he parries another blow.

"I was right. He doesn't know this is a different blade." Krill confirms in his thoughts. "He wouldn't be touching it at all if he knew."

While this is going on, Dark is breathing a shining aura onto Loopy and Maka is forming a multi-colored barrier in front of her and Cast with her hands. Cast, who changed into her white and pink armor, pulls out a white, cat claw chain and hits Drago in the back with it.

"Drago, my holy chain has connected with you! We're now linked, so his blade shouldn't affect you anymore!" Madam Cast informs.

"Wait, what?" Ridley asks, blocking a blow. He seemed to regain his composure. "This isn't your Kienzan?"

Krill shakes his head as he pulls back and jumps over the young dragon to strike Cast. "This blade is called the Solar Flare!" His blade strikes the barrier and he's launched backwards. He's caught by Loopy and covered in a black aura by Dark. Loopy charges Drago during this, but stops in front of him.

"You sure you want to do this?" she asks him. Drago shrugs.

"It's just for fun, right?" he responds, smiling.

Another chain hits him in the head and yanks him back.

"Don't worry! You won't have to fight because I'll do it for you!" Cast announces, now in apparent control of his body. Working her hands like a puppeteer, Drago throws punch and kick at his friend, who flies up to avoid making contact with him.

"Hey! What're you doing?!" Dark yells at her from below. "Just let him hit you!"

"But..." she starts to argue.

"You know you'll be fine!"

Maka whispers into Cast's ear and she redirects Drago at Dark instead of Loopy. Krill jumps in the way and right as the young dragon's fist connects, a black cloud releases from his body and he falls back, smoking.

"Why does this keep happening to me? Hahahahaha!" he thinks, laughing internally.

"Drago!" Loopy screams as she flies towards him.

"Loopy!" Dark yells. She stops mid-flight and looks at him. "He'll be fine! Now, focus on the battle!"

"......yeah, understood." she says firmly. "They know our strategy though, so I can't strike them now."
___________________

"That was an interesting development." The Black Magician, Negative says with a smirk.

He's watching the fight from the arena's broadcast screen. The Courts put up cameras around the room in case of foul play on the part of the combatants. The security team feed out the video in the lobby in for the pleasure of those waiting to be served. The footage is delayed by 7 seconds in order to give them time to stop feedback should anything drastic happen.
___________________

Loopy develops a white aura and the room is covered in magic symbols, growing colder.

"Damn it, bro. Why'd you have to make her angry?" Maka thinks, looking around the room. She looks towards her brother...who's sticking his tongue out at her. ;P

"Suck it!" he yells before laughing hysterically.

"You jerk!"

"You really should learn to stay quiet..." says Drago as he appears behind Dark. The snow covers everyone's sight and a thud is heard.

"Knock out!" an announcement states. "Teams are 3-2!"
___________________

"If he was that fast, why didn't he attack me at the bastion?" Negative whispers to himself. "I'll have to keep a close eye on these guys. Things could very interesting."
___________________

"I forgot they announce when someone is out!" Krill thought, noticing his aura fade away. "I should have been ready when they didn't point out Drago!" A light shines through the room as he prepares his blade. "I won't make that mistake a second time."

"I see it now." a voice in the storm says as a chain breaks. "Cast isn't boosting him anymore!"

"Good job! I'll handle it from here!"

Sir Krill dashes through the storm at where the girls were, noticing that they haven't moved since the start. The light from his sword reveals a crystal like wall between him and his targets, so he stops and charges energy into his gauntlets. A small yelp is heard and two thuds sound through the room.

"Turtle Destruction Wave!"

The energy is launched into a beam that ripples like the ocean tides and strikes the wall. It swirls into an energy maelstrom and disperses back at the source of the attack, though it's dodged by the orange knight.

"I figured as much. Loopy, I'm gonna cut open that wall! When I do, fly in and take out the source!"

"I'm k-kind of b-busy right now!" the snow dragon answers, flustered.

"Bring Drago over here and I'll deal with him!"

He holds out his sword and it changes places with another, noticeably sharper, claymore. He then cuts into the wall, creating an opening in it that would fit one person. Loopy flies by, red in the face, and flies into the opening before it closes. Drago walks up shortly afterwards with what appeared to be...swirls...in his eyes. @_@

"You wanted my Kienzan, you got it!"

"What? Oh yeah, sure." Drago answers, mind clearly elsewhere.

The emerald dragon uses his speed to try and avoid touching the deadly blade. He did not want to be caught on the business end of that sword. Krill knows he has his opponent on the ropes and keeps up the pace, hoping to graze his shoulder or leg. This wasn't a fight to the death. Drago finally sees an opening and puts a palm into his adversary's stomach, sending him back into the wall. However, when he reaches it, he keeps going.

"Knock out!" comes the annoucement, much to Krill's relief. "Teams are tied at 2-2!"

Loopy ends the snowstorm and Maka is seen teleporting out of the room with the smiling dragon above her.

"Got you, Maka!" she says grinning widely.

"Great! Now we're even!" Krill states excitedly.

"Not for long!" Drago yells, charging the knight.

However, Sir Krill is ready for this. He brings his blade back up, cutting through the floor like a hot knife through butter. His opponent's speed was no mystery to him, but that also meant less control during a full sprint. The dragon would see his sword come up, try to stop and run right into it, grazing either leg, immobilizing him. Then he would give him a simple chop to the neck to end it. Loopy sees the chain going towards his opponent that he was too deep in thought to notice. She flies towards the female knight in order to stop it, but the small boost to his abilities is just what the dragon needs to get to Krill before his blade comes all the way up.

"Whoa!" Krill yells in surprise as Drago punches him across the jaw, knocking him out with his now boosted strength. Krill teleports away.

"Knock out!" there it is..."Teams are-Knock out!" the announcement states again quickly as Drago looks over to see Cast frozen from the neck down. "Teams are 1-1! Next K.O. wins!"

As Cast teleports away, her ability boosting chain does as well.

"I guess we finally get to see who's stronger." Drago points out, crossing his arms.

"I guess so..." Loopy responds halfheartedly. "We're alone in here and that's all he can say? Is winning all he cares about?"
__________________________

In the waiting room...

"Come on, Loopy, you got this!" Dark yells at the TV monitor in front of them.

"Would you shut up?" Maka says, annoyed.

"What? I can't root for my teammate?"

"She can't hear you anyway! You're acting so uncool right now!"

"What'd you say?!"

"Guys, can you keep it down? We're trying to watch the end." Krill says, sitting next to a blanket wrapped Cast.

"Yeah, let's see this epic finale!" Both of them agree.
___________________________

"This isn't nearly as interesting now. No need to stay here any longer." says the mage as he disappears in his usual fashion. "I hope y'all are ready for what comes next! GYAHAhahaha......!"
___________________________

"So, are you coming at me or what?" Loopy asks, agitated.

"..." Drago stands silently with his eyes closed.

"You're starting to freak me out. What's going on?"

He raise his hand and opens his eyes. "I forfeit."
___________________________


A/N: No Internet for over a week? Better write the next chapter to my story! Among other things...Sorry for the anticlimactic ending, but I felt it necessary to bug my readers. Because I love you guys.

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Early wake up? Late arrival!

"...." Everyone in the recovery room just sat there, staring at the screen in disbelief. Had that really just happened?
_______________________

Citizens in the lobby were staring silently at the screen when Drago forfeited. Even those who had made bets couldn't comprehend their win or loss right away.

Then it hit everyone at once.

"This is complete garbage!" one man yells. He throws his phone across the room in frustration.

"Maybe for you. I just won a ton a bits off that! Thank you, Green Guy!" Another one cheers, gathering his winnings.

"You're not the only one!" cheers a cloaked woman. "I bet that female dragon would be the only one left!" She has her winnings transferred from a guy who bet on Sir Krill.

"He has a weapon that cuts through anything! How did he lose?!" cries the mage who lost.
________________________

Drago teleports out of the room and Loopy just stands there contemplating what had just happened.

"I don't get him. First, he wants to fight, then he immediately forfeits?" she thinks to herself as the announcement comes.

"Forfeit! Team Sunburst is out of fighters! Team Mirror Force wins!"

The doors open and Loopy leaves the room.
________________________

"Why did you just give up?!" scolds Maka. Drago scratches the back of his head and smiles. "How can you be happy right now? We just lost thanks to you!"

"I suppose you're right!" Drago agrees, smiling.

"Alright, sis." Dark interrupts. "Pay up."

Drago, Cast and Krill all give confused looks as Maka pulls some money out of her purse and hands to her brother with an irritated look.

"Hahaha! Oh yeah! Thanks Drago!"

"You're welcome?" The confused dragon answers.

"Holy crap, why haven't you bandaged yourself up yet?" lectures a worried Loopy as she walks in and ignores Dark's apparent bragging. Drago, assuming she's talking to him, looks down and notices that his hands are bleeding. He looks back up and chuckles a little.

"I guess I forgot?" He says, preparing for a lecture.

"I'll do it then." she says, catching him off guard. She grabs his arm and pulls him into the first aid room. She shuts the door and locks it.

"What's with those two?" Cast asks out loud to no one in particular.

"They've known each other a long time." Krill answers. "Even longer than we've known each other." Cast is a bit shocked to hear this.

"They must have met pretty early then, considering we're two years older and met as squires." She takes off the blanket and puts it over the chair.

"Considerably early." Krill confirms. "Their group met before they started developing scales."

"Group?"

"Those two, Drago's sister Kat and Spinal. There was one other, but I don't recall who. I don't know how they met that early. The siblings make sense, but all I know about those two is that King Saber shows interest in them."

"I can kind of see why. How are a dragon and a mage siblings?" Krill stands up and starts checking his armor for damage before speaking back up.

"Beats me. But anything is possible to me since seeing you tame a tiger those years ago."

"You had to tame a rhino though."

"You did with your bare hands! And used 'I know a lot about cats.' as your reasoning!"

"What? I'm kind of a dork about all things cat-related. You should know that by now. Even my weapons are cat claws and a Cat O'Nine Tails."

"That's true. But still..."

"Stop being such a baby!" Loopy scolds from the other room. Everyone looks over at the door.

"I can't help it! It really stings!" whines Drago.

"It would hurt less if you just let me put on the ointment all at once!"

"But you're taking so long to do it!"

"Cause you keep moving!"

The two knights and the twins, who finally stopped arguing, put their ears up against the door in anticipation.
______________________

Drago is staring at his bandaged up hands and Loopy puts away the supplies.

"Hey..." she asks, causing him to look up.

"Yes?" She closes the cabinet, but stays facing the wall.

"Why'd you forfeit? You seemed so anxious to fight seconds beforehand..."

"Oh. I actually didn't want to fight you at all. Never did. I told myself before the match that I would sooner stop fighting than even think about swinging at you."

Loopy's face reddens and she smiles a bit.

"Oh?~ And why is that?" she says, turning around, finding Drago had already left the room. "What the?"
______________________

Drago is standing over the group, who fell over when he opened the door mid-conversation, with an irritated look on his face.

"And what were you guys doing just now?"

Maka stands up first to answer. "You two were in there an awful long time, then we heard you yelling. We grew concerned. Right guys?"

Everyone else just nods and stands up quickly.

"I'm sure." Drago walks out of the room and to the front of the center. Loopy sees him walk out and looks to the others, annoyed.

"You were listening in on us, weren't you?!" she yells, causing them to jump a bit.

"As I just explained to Draggie, we-" Maka starts before getting cut off by Loopy grabbing her face.

"...you're buying lunch."

She lets go of the girl before walking out front. Dark and Cast start laughing to themselves before following her out. Krill puts a hand on her shoulder, laughing a bit, then does the same.

"S-sure, no problem."
_______________________

When they reach the front lobby, they find some random civilians yelling at Drago and others thanking him for the match.

"Yo, jerkwad! Thanks for losing me 3 stacks!"

"I'm cool with it! Keep up the good work!"

"I only came for the match, so you ruined my day!"

"Shove off! It's not his job to entertain you!"

Suddenly, a blinding light fills the room and Drago is yanked out the front door.
_______________________

The sun still high in the sky, they stop somewhere to eat where, to her misfortune, Maka was paying for Loopy's meal.

"Did you have to order the most expensive thing just to spite me?" she asks, crying at her bill.

"I know someone who not only listened in on a private conversation, but tried covering up for the others who did, isn't trying to lecture me on morals." she replied, cutting a steak. "Besides, I'm sharing it with Drago since he can't use his hands."

"Sure that's why." Maka says with her eyebrows bouncing.

Loopy and Drago turn red and look away. "I just don't want him to injure himself further is all!"

He turns back around and she shakily feeds a piece it to him.

"So that's how you two are now? Took long enough." a voice announces from the near the entrance. They look over and see a familiar black dragon walking towards them. He was with a female dragon with navy blue scales and black hair.

"Spinal!" Drago and Loopy both jump out of their chairs and run to their friend.

"Oh, this guy." Dark says, clearly annoyed.

"I thought you weren't getting out until the end of the month?" asks Drago.

"Doc said I could leave early. My recovery was that astounding." he answers, rubbing his nose.

"You're as modest as ever." points out the girl next to him.

"And Yami! It's so nice to see you not working for once!" Loopy cheers, grabbing the girl's hands.

"Yami?" Cast asks, having never met her before.

"I go by Xenx'i during missions. You may have heard that name or my title before." Yami explains.

"Your title?"

"Yes. I'm a Wing Class dragon known for my abilities to manipulate the shadows of others."

"So, you're a darkness elemental?" Cast asks with a suddenly serious look in her eyes.

"That is correct. Why do you ask?"

Before she could answer, a chair from an outside table got thrown through the window at them. Spinal grabbed it before it hit anyone and placed it on the ground. They looked out the window to see a Royal who usually stays by Negative's side.

"I remember him. He'll wish I didn't." Spinal says before walking outside to greet the knight.

"Whoa!" Drago catches up to Spinal to try and prevent a fight.

"Wait up!" Loopy yells, dragging Yami with her. Maka talks to the restaurant owner and Dark puts up a barrier around the area where the 4 dragons and the knight are to prevent collateral damage.

"What's with you guys?" Spinal asks. "I'll take him out myself."

"You just got out of the hospital!" Loopy replies before pointing to Drago. "And you can't use your hands!"

"And neither of you have eaten yet." Yami adds in. "Spinal and I will take him."

"I'm not here to fight..." Freak says, crossing his arms, revealing a rosary on each gauntlet.

"So the chair through the window was?" Yami asks.

"An invitation. My master requests an audience with you."

"And what exactly prevented you from walking in and asking?" Drago asks.

"I'm not answering a filthy mutt." Freak says, not even looking over.

"Then I'll ask again, tomato sucker."

Freak draws his sword, shaped like a tuning fork and aims it at his aggressor. Spinal claps his hands together, but before either could do anything, a vortex appears under Freak and he falls through it, disappearing.
___________________________

"I know this magic..." Freak thinks this as the portal hole closes and he falls out the other side.

"So it seems Negative has no interest in helping me devour those lizards..." a voice says from all around him. He can't tell where the source is, but the sounds of licking lips are heard. It's complete darkness in this area, he knows not how large. He would use sonar, but then he can't keep track of the voice.

"Show yourself, witch!" he yells into his sword, amplifying the sound. He doesn't have time for sonar, but a sonic boom might drop the illusion on him.

"I can't let an ally that beneficial do nothing, so I'll just have to convince him." says the voice, ignoring his words.

"She must not be in the room..." he thinks as he sheathes his blade. It will do him no good here. "Then where?"

He feels a hand grab his shoulder and another rip off his helmet. He goes for an elbow and makes contact, but an explosion happens and throws him to the ground.

"I guess you'll have to do for now." the voice says again before biting him in the neck.
_____________________

A/N: That's it! Not sure how this cliffhanger thing works, but I like it!
Cast's identity is revealed and I sort of show what Yami looks like! XD
I'm gonna bring in a few more members next chapter, but only one dragon since I've already shown a LOT of us.

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: Chapter 6

Bite of the Vampire! Power of the Lords!

After the events that had transpired today, Drago is heading home with Loopy and Spinal with him.

Previously...

"Where'd he go?!" a confused and angry Spinal yells.

"Looked like he got sucked into a void." Yami points out.

"Then it must have been Fullblue." Loopy states. "Suki told me what her powers are like."

"The Representative of Magnolia?" Drago thinks out loud. "Why would she be in Bern?"

"Who knows, but whatever the reason is, she took care of Freak for us."

"We should go find her and ask why." Yami suggests.

"Agreed. What does she look like?" Spinal asks. Drago and Loopy look at one another, then look back and shrug. "You were at the meeting, right? Then you should have seen what she looks like."

"She was late to the meeting and teleported to the inside of the building. Then, she teleported back home after a conflict happened." Drago states. "Kat was filling in for her until she arrived."

"In other words, we never got to see her face." Loopy adds.

"Kat was there?" Spinal asks.

"Don't even think about it." Drago says, cutting him off. "I will put you back in the hospital."

"You can try." Spinal smirks at him. Drago smirks back and lifts his arms. Before they're even halfway up though, Loopy punches him over the head.

"I just bandaged you up! You are NOT getting hurt again!" she lectures.

"Well, if we don't know what the mage looks like, then there's nothing we can do for now." Yami points out. "I say we cool down and continue our day like we were originally going to do."

Then and there, the twins walk up to the group.

"Well, the restaurant owner is pissed." Dark states. "Luckily, there wasn't that much damage. Krill and Cast are helping with the repairs right now."

"Because of us." Maka points out. "And he was so grateful that we prevented any further damage to his business that our meal is on the house!" She jumps up and down in joy at this fact and Drago walks back into the restaurant. Loopy walks up to her and grabs her face.

"Which means you still owe me lunch." she reminds her before following Drago inside.

"Seriously?!" she asks, saddened. She chases after them. Dark, Yami and Spinal walk inside as well.

...flashback over.

"It was nice of you to invite us over." Loopy says.

"It's my pleasure. Besides, I can't cook with bandaged hands." Drago states, chuckling.

Loopy's face -> >:T

"Why'd you invite me? I hate being a 3rd wheel." Spinal asks. "Especially in my own damn house."

"We're celebrating your recovery. Be kind of hard to do that without you here." Drago reminds him. "Besides, Yami said she'd be coming too, so stop complaining."

They arrive at Drago's house to find Yami waiting by the door.

"Cool! You're already here." Drago says with a smile. She doesn't reply and steps away from the door. Drago opens it and is instantly tackled to the ground by a white wolf puppy. "Oof! Hey, Gregia!~ Loopy, some help?"

"Sure." she replies, picking the puppy up. "Hello, babby! You miss momma?"

She walks inside, hugging the puppy to her chest. Spinal and Yami had already made their way in and were sitting respectively on the recliner and couch. Drago walks inside and closes the door, unaware of the rift opening up a block away from his house.
________________

Drago and Loopy are in the kitchen, baking a cake. The former instructs the latter on how to do it and she adds her own touches here and there. Yami is reading on the couch and the guest of honor is playing with the puppy while he waits on them. After a little bit, they sit down, eat some cake and watch a horror movie.

"This part is awesome." Spinal says, excited.

"Don't spoil it for me!" Loopy yells, squeezing the puppy in her lap.

"Feel free to tell me though." Drago says before covering Loopy's ears, who looks grumpy.

"Everyone dies." Yami says. "Like every other horror movie."

"It's not that simple!" Spinal retorts. "Cabin in the Woods has a far better plot than most horror movies."

"It's the same thing. It just does it a slightly different way than most movies." Yami says back.

"You're just being stubborn!" Spinal yells.

"And you're being too emotional." Yami says back.

Right as Drago tries to stop the argument, he hears something from outside. He walks out and is immediately blasted back by a sound wave. Yami runs to check on him while Spinal runs outside to see who did it. Loopy takes Gregia upstairs and puts him in a safe place before coming back down to help.

"Show yourself, Freak! I know it's you out there!" Spinal demands.

The knight steps out of the shadows and reveals himself, his eyes glowing an eerie yellow. He's already holding his signature tuning fork shaped blade, known as the Vampire's Bite.

"You're not being your usual chatty self. Whatever that mage did to you, you'll be sorry you came back here! Carbon Reformation!" Spinal yells.

The black dragon claps his hands and slaps his chest. His body and face change to a deep black color with 2 red lines going vertically from his head to feet and branching off to his wrists. He then punches the ground, creating stone pillars out of the earth below that fly at the knight in front of him.

"..."

Freak swings his blade, breaking the pillars to find Spinal no longer there. His expression doesn't change as he gets punched in the side of the head and sent flying. He crashes into a pile of crates outside of a bar.

"Get up, get up! I ain't done yet!" Spinal taunts, bouncing back & forth on his toes.

Suddenly, he feels stunned and can't move. The crates get knocked aside to show Freak's blade in the ground.

"Sound travels fastest through solid objects..." he explains as he's getting up. "I know of your Ultimate Shield, but know that it's useless against me."

Freak runs up to slash Spinal, who regains enough movement to sidestep the knight's blade as he swings. Without swinging again, Freak yells into his sword, creating a sonic boom and knocking Spinal into a nearby alley. The black dragon quickly jumps up, unscathed, but gets met with stab to his arm by the sound blade. It doesn't seem to pierce, but appearances are deceiving.

"Argh! What the hell is going on?" Spinal questions, unable to move.

"Did you not wonder why my blade is called the Vampire's Bite?" Freak asks. "When I stab my enemies with it, they're paralyzed while I drain their energy. Your armor may be sturdy, but it allows free access to my sound based weapon."

"Damn! I need to get out of this thing's reach! But how?"

Freak falls backwards and his sword is ripped out of Spinal's arm. The dragon looks down to see Yami coming out of Freak's shadow, holding onto his legs. Drago comes up from behind and ax-kicks the knight in the stomach, then flipping back up to a standing position.

"Sucker punch me, will you?!" the emerald dragon shouts, clearly still angry.

"I can't move..." Spinal says, kneeling on the ground.

"We'll handle this!"

"Will you now?" the knight interrupts before slamming his blade into Drago's leg.

The sound from the blade hits the young dragon's ears and makes him drops to the ground, gripping them tightly. He then slams his blade into the ground, creating a shock wave that slams Yami into a wall. He stands up and looks down at his opponents.

"Is this the best you lizards can do?" he taunts.

The area starts to get colder and he turns around to find the last dragon with glowing white eyes. He goes into a stance, but finds himself unable to move. He's frozen from the waist down with a magic circle beneath him.

"I won't let you continue!" Loopy exclaims.

"That's not your choice to make..." Freak retorts. "I can easily shatter your ice."

He lifts his sword up, but before he can swing it down, he finds his arms frozen in place. He then notices the magic circles to his right and left on the walls.

"Then I'll keep you from using that thing. I guess you didn't know I was here, huh? Otherwise, you wouldn't have given me so much time to set up my trap. I guess if you did come after me though, that would have meant giving one of the others a lot of time. You just made the wrong choice..."

She lifts her hand, finishing the freezing process.

"It's done."

She walks past him and to the others when the area starts to heat back up. She turns around to find a a large man in white and purple armor with spiked shoulder pieces and twin horn ornaments facing backwards. He has a large sapphire in the center of his forehead protector. Too stunned to move, Drago runs up, grabs her and jumps back before anything could happen to her.

"Why are you attacking one of my knights?" the man asks.

"He attacked us first!" Spinal yells out.

"Did he now? I'd like to hear his side of the story first."

The man pulls a sword out that glows like the surface of the sun, causing the ice to melt and Freak to fall onto one knee. Spinal's armor crumbles away and Yami is forced out of her shadow form. He sheathes his sword and Freak turns around.

"Lord Cool! I don't have time for this!" Freak yells as he swings his blade.

The man known as Cool grabs the blade with his index finger and keeps Freak from even budging it. Freak then yells into it, but no sound comes out. Everyone gains a shocked look from this, including the young knight, himself.

"You can't have sound without vibrations. Tell me why you attacked these dragons." he requests.

Everyone lost color from their faces. Had this man really just stopped sound itself with brute force alone? And his blade shut down all of their abilities by just being slightly unsheathed. Why was he so powerful? A look of realization hits Yami's face.

"Wait, did he say 'Lord' Cool? As in, the rank, Lord?" she asks, frightened.

"Yeah, why?" Drago asks.

"Well, you know how there are different ranks in the Royal Army? Once you get Knight, you gain a title. Sir Krill, the Honorable and Madam Cast of the Holy Light are both examples of this. However, at that point, you begin 'special' training." she explains.

"What do you mean by special?" Spinal asks.

"Once you reach Knight level, you can choose to work on defeating certain opponents..."

Dragon Slayer: These knights specialize in taking down dragons or those with Draconic abilities. They practice techniques that affect their surrounding areas and attack our heightened senses. An image of Sir Freak and Sir Tadashi appears.

Witch Hunter: Those that practice hunting mages or anyone with immense magical ability fall into this category. They practice anti-magic techniques and wield weapons made of Mythril, which absorbs and redirects magic. A stranger wearing blue armor with a yellow trim and a blue cape jumps down from the rooftop and walks up to the other two knights.

Lords: The most powerful of the Royal Army by far, though they're few in number. You have to master Witch Hunting and Dragon Slaying training in order to be considered. These warriors must also forge their own weapon to use and bind their soul to it. Their blades are unbreakable and their will, immovable. She looks to Lord Cool, who is now holding Freak up by his shoulder with his helmet in his other hand, showing that Freak has brown hair and pale skin.

"Lord Cool, I believe there's foul play involved here." the blue knight states. "His eyes are glowing and he appears to have bite marks on his neck."

"I see. I'll leave it to you then, Sir Aaron." the Lord replied.

"Thank you."

The Blue knight known as Sir Aaron of the Breathing Aura touched the wound, then closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he could see the energy of the Dragon Slayer and found the source of the magic he was looking for. He pulled out his mythril rapier and touched the knight's right temple with it. It absorbed a yellow energy that he then destroyed. Freak's eyes stopped glowing and he grabbed his head.

"Ugh...what happened?" the young vampire asks.

"You appear to have had your mind altered by some type of magic. Do you remember anything?" Aaron asks. He shakes his head.

"Nothing."

"We'll take you home and have you checked out. No one attacks one of ours and gets away with it!" Lord Cool exclaims. Freak and Aaron stare in awe.

"So, that's what your name means!" Freak realizes, excited to meet a lord.

"Lord Cool, the Devout! No matter how low or high you're ranked, he treats you the same. He truly is devoted to his kingdom and its people." Aaron explains, also in awe.

"I'm not that great. You guys do more than I do." he says laughing. "Let's get back to Camelot!"

He hands Freak his helmet back and wraps his arms around both of them. They start walking towards the train station. Loopy and Yami look a little weirded out. Drago and Spinal have straight faces before looking to each other.

"Bro, did you just see that? Spinal asks.

"Yup." Drago replies.

"...that was awesome!" they both exclaim. "That Cool Guy has an amazing weapon! Even if he is a bit corny."

Yami facepalms and Loopy gives a half smile with a sweatdrop on her forehead. Loopy then gains a look of realization and grabs Drago.

"You weren't supposed to be fighting!" she scolds.

"I had to help them out!" he yells back.

"You didn't do anything!"

"Y-yeah, I did!"

"What'd you do?"

"I kicked Freak in the stomach after Yami grabbed him!"

"..." She gives him a stupid look. "I'm taking Gregia home."

"What?! He's my dog!"

"Our dog and he's coming with momma."

"Damn it!" _______________________________


A/N: And that's how this one ends. Feels weird, not ending it on a cliff hanger. XD
Introduced 2 (technically 3) new characters in this and explained the Royal's system.

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: Chapter 7

Peaceful times? Gathering of the Strongest!

In the gathering hall of the Lady's castle known as the Dragon's Den, she's holding a dinner meeting with her Fangs and their right hands. It's been a few days since the incident with Freak and everyone has recovered. They're sitting at a large dining table with mostly empty seats. Jcoss and Suki sit in front, on her left and right side respectively with Drago and Loopy next to them. On the left, there's a black haired, red-eyed dragon with gold scales and an eye-patch with Spinal next to him. Past Suki is a silver-haired (long) dragon with black scales and green eyes, though closed at the moment. Yami is next to him. Maka and Dark are sitting across from each other as their Fangs were on a mission. A blonde haired dragon with white scales is standing next to the Lady. She opens her blue eyes and smiles to the ones at the table.

"I believe everyone is here, Madam Bahamut." she points out to the dragon in charge.

"It would seem so, Luxtra. Thank you." she replies. "Let us begin."

Jcoss bonks Drago over the head and Suki grabs Loopy's cheek as they were making funny faces at each other and the twins until that point.

"How are repairs going so far?" the Lady asks the gold dragon.

"Repairs are already completed, madam." he replied.

"Excellent. And the energy that controlled our would be attacker?"

"We just received word back from Camelot's R&D Department, so we'll know by the end of the day just what type of magic it was, then who's it was."

"Impressive." Suki praises out loud. She's hugging Loopy, who's rubbing her sore cheek.

"It's nothing for me. They don't call me the professor for nothing." he replies, rubbing his nose.

"Pfft, more like nerd." Spinal states, chuckling.

"And you're a nerd's assistant, so..." he replies with a smirk.

"That's enough." Jcoss interrupts. "The leader of each division picked a subordinate to be their right hand man and disciple. We spend more time with this youngling than any other dragon, training and teaching them to take over our position one day. Because of these reasons making them so important to us, they are referred to as our 'Treasures.' You'll be spending a lot of time with him, so do try to get along."

"At least I picked mine because of his merits in my field. I'm the head of R&D, so I picked an Alchemy nut to be my assistant. Sukichu is our Ambassador, so she picked someone who gets along with people easily as hers. You're the head of the Stealth Division, yet picked a loud-mouthed fighter instead of someone with abilities in that field, like Yami. Luckily, rather than let her skills go to waste, General Masamune picked her as his lieutenant, though Drago would be better suited for direct combat." the professor argued.

"You should trust me more, Kisuke. Drago, his ID if you don't mind."

The emerald dragon pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over to his leader.

"When did he?" he asked, checking his wallet to find his ID missing.

"So, you do have two working eyes." Jcoss says out loud before Kisuke takes his card back.

"So, he does have SOME skill in stealth."

"Drago was a pickpocket for years and he's usually active at night. He has a great sense of smell and even better hearing than I do. I know how to do my job. His lineage is pretty impressive as well..."

"Are you boys done now?" the Lady asks, irritated.

"Yes, madam." Kisuke replies, bowing.

"My apologies." Jcoss replies, doing the same.

"I don't understand why you two can't get along, but figure it out. Even your Second in Commands get along great, so you have no excuse."

"Yes, madam." they say in unison.

"Anything to report, Sukichi?" she asks the sapphire dragon, who's still cuddled up with her assistant.

She lets go and pulls out some papers from her bag. She hands them to Luxtra, who reads over them briefly before handing them up to the Lady.

"We just received Lord Cool and Sir Aaron as guests, though they didn't stay for very long." Suki reports. "They handled the incident with Sir Freak, then went back to Camelot."

"How did your discussion with King Saber go?"

"Saber said she'd be sending someone to investigate, but it appears the traitor in question was being controlled by magic through both incidents."

"He seemed to be in control of himself when he was with Negative." Jcoss interjects.

"But Negative hasn't done anything to indicate that he wishes to attack Camelot. There's no reason for Freak or Saber to not trust him."

"That would still only be one incident then. Which was the other?" Masamune asks, speaking up.

"The attack on Eruner." Luxtra answers.

"Wasn't that done by hired mercs?" Spinal asks.

"Doubtful." Yami answers.

"What makes you say that?"

"The wound, itself." Maka states. She's the Treasure of Lio, who is in charge of the medical division. "The poison in Eruner's system is made for paralyzing, not killing."

"Why would an assassin bother with that?" Drago asks.

"Exactly. They wouldn't. This means that whoever attacked Eruner didn't want him dead, just out of the way for a while." Maka answers.

"But why?" Loopy asks.

"It might have been to keep him from joining a coming conflict." Drago suggests.

"That doesn't make any sense." Yami argues.

"It might not from your point of view or even my own, but it could make sense from whoever did it."

"But I don't see why someone would do that and claim they're helping someone. I'm not saying there wasn't foul play. Just that it might not have had good intentions behind it."

"Learn to see things from someone else's point of view and it might help you understand what they're trying to say." Masamune interrupts.

"I'm just saying..." she argued, crossing her arms.

"They're not saying their idea is absolutely what happened. Just that it's a possibility to consider."

Yami lays her chin on her arms, pouting while Masamune rubs the top of her head, smiling.

"Masamune, how're things going in your department?" the Lady asks.

"Exceedingly well, Madam. Sir Krill came by a few days ago and helped me forge my blade, the Katana I now call the One Winged Angel. He helped me teach our newest recruits close range combat techniques with their new weapons. It was a great help." he reported.

"Knowing Sir Krill, that's no surprise." she replies.

She looks over her schedule for the meeting before her head perks up.

"We haven't eaten yet, have we?" she asks, prompting everyone to either grab their stomachs or shake their heads. "Well, that answers what we're doing next."

Some chefs come inside after a while and serve food to everyone at the meeting. Drago, Spinal and Dark are having an eating contest to see who can finish the fastest. Sukichu, Loopy, Maka and Lux are trying to keep their food down watching them, before turning to see the Lady join them in their contest. Jcoss and Kisuke are silently eating their meals while lightning sparks between them. It's an incredibly calm sight. Especially compared to the gatherings of Knights and Mages...
___________________________

The mage known as Negative walks down a hall filled with portraits of great wizards from the past and present, including a familiar looking one with white and blue robes surrounded by golden rings.

"Am I late?" he asks, entering a chamber with floating runes and and magical symbols which seem to serve no purpose other than decoration.

"Aren't you always?" asks an annoyed mage wearing a purple robe over a red dress. "I swear, between you and Blue, I don't know how we ever get anything done."

"I'm sure he has a good reason to be late." a man wearing a white T-shirt and red/black cargo pants interrupts. "Right, Cero?"

"It's Negative now, and thank you, Kanoke." the mage replies.

"Right, right. Let's hear it, Neg."

"It seems my usual assistant is now hospitalized with Hypothermia. I went to visit him before coming to the meeting. If you would allow-" Negative starts.

"That's enough." interrupts Morgana, the mage from before.

Fullblue walks in at that time, yawning, and takes her seat next to Kanoke.

"Glad you could make it, though you're kind of the last one here." Kanoke points out, smiling.

"Really?" she asks with a slightly confused look on her face.

Around the room, sat multiple wizards, dressed up in their usual gear, including Negative glaring at her, Kat waving to her and Morgana giving an exhausted look. A wizard wearing brown and red robes with a tattoo on his neck speaks up.

"That's a pretty angry look, Neg. Almost like you wanna fight Blue right here and now." he taunts.

"That's enough, Shaara." Morgana scolds, causing him to put his hands up defensively.

"Whatever you say, boss."
___________________________

A green eyed blonde woman stares at herself in the mirror while another woman puts her hair in a circular bun before taking the mirror. The blonde stands up, compliments the woman on her work and begins putting on silver and blue armor. She straps a sword to her belt and walks downstairs to a huge courtroom like area. There are stands on either side of an elevated throne.

"Will everyone please rise. King Saber has arrived." Lord Cool announces from next to the throne.

The multitude of people on both sides of the huge throne room stand at attention as their leader makes her way in. She arrives at her throne and motions everyone to be seated.

"Any words on Sir Freak's recovery?" she asks Lord Cool.

"All of the controlling magic is out of his system, but he's still got some hypothermia. Normally, it'd be no matter since we have warming beds, but his physiology makes him slightly susceptible to cold weather." her highest ranking knight reports.

"How long before he'll be suitable for combat?"

"A week at the most. Do you plan to send him into combat?"

She shakes her head in response.

"No, but whoever did this will be coming back. We can't always reliably keep an eye on him, so I need him able to fend for himself. Speaking of which..."

She looks around the room before motioning a knight clad in sparkling prism armor to stand.

"Madam Ayu, have you discovered what type of magic it was?"

"Yes, my King. It appears to be puppet magic." she replies.

"I see. So the culprit had to be close by. He or she probably specializes in magic that masks their magical presence."

(There are different kinds of mind control magic which vary in range and efficiency. Puppet magic is a powerful type where the user can control what the target's actions and motives behind those actions. The victim believes they are doing what they wish to do, so their skills aren't hampered by this magic as most are. The flaw is that the user has to remain in an extremely close proximity to maintain control. Otherwise, the "strings" break, thus the namesake.)

"Sir Tadashi!" Lord Cool summons. The Starry knight stands up.

"Yes, my Lord!" he answers immediately.

"Have we heard back from the Magic Council?"

"Not yet, my Lord. They're still trying to ascertain who the manipulator was. Since it was such a complicated magic, we believe it will narrow their search greatly, though we've yet to contact them since finding out."

"Why not?!" a purple clad knight demands. "Two of our knights have been attacked in the last 10 days. We know one was attacked by a Magnolian and the other had only one witness still alive."

"Sir Lightning, please try to understand we simply can't contact them currently to update our situation. I'll be leaving as soon as I can, but I had to report to King Saber myself as Eruner is still hospitalized."

"You could have given me that information before we began as Madam Cast did." Lord Cool points out.

"I didn't wish to burden my Lord with something I could do myself."

"Reporting to the King on the status of her kingdom is my job. It is a burden I proudly bear."

"Then it is my error."

"You know what's amazing, Sir Tadashi?" Lightning asks. "You're in charge of communicating between foreign lands and our kingdom, so the lack of travel to Magnolia and thus, justice to Freak's assaulter is your error."

"And I rightfully accept it."

"However, the one witness to Eruner being struck down was you as well. You are involved in both of these."

"Are you accusing me of foul play?"

"No accusations. Keep bet-"

A slamming of a sheathed sword echos through the room, silencing it. All those standing took their seat and look towards its bearer. The King opens her eyes with a raging fire in them.

"Will you all please stop bickering like children? My head aches from your constant complaining..."

No words are spoken, a golden tint to the air.
___________________________

"That was amazing..." Drago sighs, patting his stomach.

"The chefs do good work." The Lady grins.

"What are our orders?" asks Jcoss.

"You and Drago will investigate Negative by entering his home and keeping an eye on him. Find out what he's planning and report back home. Dark will be joining you as soon as he finishes up his work back home." Luxtra replies, handing him a sheet of paper.

"We're heading to the Grey Lord's Mansion? That place is protected by ghosts and an extremely powerful undead beast!" Drago points out.

"Correct."

"Heck yeah! I haven't been there in a long time!" he cheers, jumping out of his chair.

"Let's move." Jcoss orders. He and his emerald scaled apprentice leave the hall.

"Sukichu and Loopy. You two are free for today. We'll summon you when we need you." The blonde dragon continues.

"Sweetness." the older dragon calmly celebrates.

"Cool, a day off!" the younger one cheers.

"Kisuke and Spinal, continue your research. Knowing what specific type of magic it was will make it far easier to track down the one responsible."

"I bet I know who it was..." Sukichu thinks to herself.

"Of course." the Professor replies. He leaves with Spinal not too far behind. The latter felt no need to say anything before leaving.

"General Masamune, you're to stay and continue training our troops. Yami, you're to escort Sir Krill and Madam Cast home safely." Luxtra briefs.

"Yes, ma'am." the General answers. Yami nodded her head, but didn't feel like talking. They left shortly afterwards.

"Maka, please head back to the hospital and help out Itsuki. Lio should be returning in a few days, so you're in charge until then." Luxtra finishes up.

"Yessum!" the twin happily replies before leaving.

"...and dismissed." she says, annoyed. Loopy and Sukichu get up and leave, hiding a laugh for the former and the latter sighing.

"They never stay to the end of the meeting." The Lady points out, laughing.

"And my stress builds..."
___________________________

A/N: And that's the end of this one. Lot of exposition, but necessary to avoid exposition heavy chapters in the future. A LOT of members show up in this one. Some really obvious, some not and a few downright confusing ones. Thanks for reading.

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: Chapter 8

Grey Lord's Mansion...Roar of the Undead Beast!

"You shouldn't have spoken to that thing." Jcoss scolds.

"He seemed so nice. Besides, he was outside the mansion, but not in the Overdell Cemetery, so I assumed he was friendly." Drago argues.

"How do you know it was a he? Or even intelligent? It didn't speak any language I understood."

"I dunno. Just got a feeling we were cool. Plus, it wasn't hard to figure out what he was saying. Body language speaks a lot."

"Let's just head inside..." The wind dragon says, gripping his tensed nose.

The stealth unit is currently on the premises of the dark mage, Negative. The building known as the Grey Lord's Mansion...
___________________________

"Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating!" The Grey Lord cheers following a discovery. "These beasts grow exponentially more powerful after being exposed to darkness. It's no wonder they guard the Overdell!"

(The Overdell Cemetery is a large graveyard that separates the Mansion from the Tropical Jungle just south of it. Due to massive chaotic energy in the region, a desert canyon, tropical zone and arctic area all surround the area the graveyard lies in.)

Looking at an extremely large metal door on the floor, there seems to be a dark aura rising from it.

"Soon, my pet. The world will know your strength once again." the ominous voice calmly says as a pair of sad, green eyes stare back at its master.
___________________________

"This is all your fault. You know that, right?" Jcoss says, phasing through a door.

"How? I'm not the one who said 'Leave the enemies to me, they use AIR abilities!' was I?" Drago yells back as he cuts his way through the same door.

"That monster wasn't in our reports! No earth based enemy should be immune to wind attacks!"

A humanoid, green Rock Monster smashes through the wall and chases them down the hall.

"Why aren't you dealing with it? Physically battling is your specialty!" Jcoss yells. He sends a blade of wind at the ceiling in front of the monster. The wood falls on top of it, but it comes out, unfazed.

"That's why! He justs blows through it like...nothing happened..." the emerald dragon states.

Jcoss smirks and grabs Drago's arm. They phase through the monster, who just keeps going down the hall, then around the corner.

"Good thinking." the silver leader praises.

"Nothing that resilient is paying attention to its target." Drago explains.

"If we were the target."

He grabs his Treasure and phases them through the wall as a bunch of ghosts wearing witches' hats float by on patrol.
___________________________

"I'm really starting to hate these lizards..." says the dark mage with an aura around his fist.
___________________________

"Yo, Jcoss, I smell...blood...rotten flesh." Drago says, covering his nose.

"Considering our location and how good your nose is, that could be coming from anywhere in this forsaken place." Jcoss points out. He leans over and finds a rotting steak on the ground. "Disgusting..."

They continue through the mansion, avoiding patrols that pass by periodically. They find the Rock Monster pacing back & forth in front of a large set of double doors.

"I'm gonna go on a limb and say that's where we need to go." the young dragon says jokingly.

"Same plan. If it worked one time, it'll work a second time. Attract its attention and bring it over here."

Drago nods, then runs over and trips the monster, causing it to fall through the floor due to its massive weight. Drago and Jcoss stare down in disbelief before the former puts his ear against the doors. Jcoss follows him and looks back down the hole to see the monster getting up.

"It's coming back." Jcoss points out as he grabs Drago and phases them through the door.

They find themselves in what appears to be the master bedroom, complete with a king-sized bed, two bookshelves and a rug that covered most of the floor.

"Whoa. Neg lives in style." the wolf-like dragon says in awe.

"Let's check around for any evidence of what he may be up to." Jcoss orders. He and Drago start ripping apart the bedroom and checking every book for details. Drago tries to flip the bed, but finds he can't. Wondering why, he checks the legs to find them attached to a track. Jcoss opens a book labelled 'Skull Destroyer: The Undead Dinosaur King' and begins reading through it.

"Yo, Jcoss! Check this out."
___________________________

A knock comes to the door of the Gathering Hall.

"Come in." The Bahamut orders. Spinal walks in with a nervous look on his face. "What did you wish to discuss with me?"

"Lady, we seem to have had a...slight lapse in intelligence. We read the findings from the last time Yami and Sir Aaron visited the mansion. We found a second magic source. The Royals knew about it and assumed we were told." The black dragon responds.

"Who is this second source?"

"The previous owner of Grey Lord's Mansion, the Grey Lord, herself."

Luxtra, who had been quiet until this point, gains a worried look on her face. The head of the Dragon Clan scowls and stands up. "Has Dark left yet?"

"Yes, Lady Bahamut. He left around 2 this afternoon." the white dragon answers.

"Please allow me to assist them." Spinal respectfully requests.

"Jcoss is there, so she should pose no threat. However, if both Vale and Negative are there, that could present a problem." The Lady ponders.

"...maybe not." Luxtra interrupts. Spinal looks up at her and their leader keeps thinking.
___________________________

"Is that Negative?" Drago asks.

They found a switch on the wall next to the bed that caused the tracks to move. They currently find themselves surrounded by computers, rock monsters in large tubes and an ominous growling bass. In front of them is a figure in a blue lab coat and an extremely tall red collar. She turns around and reveals her pale face and green eyes.

"No, Drago. It's nowhere near that bad." Jcoss responds, a smirk on his lips.

"Huh, who's that?" the young dragon asks.

"That, my notably canine friend, is the lovely Ms. Vale."

"The mage known as the Crazy Vampire?"

"You got it."

Dragi stares her down and droops his head to howl. Jcoss stops him from doing so and points to check out the computer. He walks over to the Grey Lord and looks past her. He notices the large green eyes staring back at him. His look changes from one of joy to one of disgust. She glares back at him.

"What do you want, you pervy dragon?" she asks with clear disdain in her voice.

"What are you doing here, Vale?"

"What could I possibly be doing in my own home? I wonder."

"You were evicted and arrested for illegal experimentation. Which is still continuing, I see. Drago, look up Skull Destroyer."

She starts laughing obnoxiously. The emerald treasure types away as the wind dragon walks to the locked up creature. He notices a cold presence emanating from it. A low growling sound comes from the cage as Drago rushes at her in a blind fury.

"You witch!" he yells as Jcoss is broken out of his concentration. He wraps a cyclone barrier around the emerald dragon.

"What's wrong with you? I told you to stand down." Jcoss scolds. Drago falls to his knees, tears in his eyes.

"How dare you desecrate his remains..."

"What did you see?"

He walks over to the computer and finds "Project: Skull Destroyer" on the screen. He looks through the details as Vale finally figures out why the young dragon is so livid with her.

"So, he was close to you?" the pale mage replies. "That'll be the perfect test for him."

She unlocks the door on the ground and steps away. The cyclone around Drago disappears.

"Move! We don't know what that thing can do!" Jcoss warns.

"...I do." Drago retorts, getting up. Jcoss looks confused as the beast grabs the `ceiling` and pulls itself up, revealing its disturbing form.

The creature is a colossal skeletal dragon with glowing green eyes. Along with a second rib cage outside the first opened up. On its back is an orange, shark-shaped missile with the same green eyes wearing a mischievous smile. There are a few webs here and there on its body as well. Most disturbing is the rotting, yet still beating heart inside its chest. The air around it grows thick and heavy. Both Jcoss and Vale start sweating in its presence.

"What's wrong, pervert? My monster too much for you?" she taunts.

"Are you really in control? Seems you're just as scared as I am...Drago, what're you doing?!" Jcoss yells.

Drago is standing in front of the creature with watery eyes. The undead dragon leans its head down and nudges him. The young dragon hugs the skull and starts bawling his eyes out. The creature wraps its boney arms around Drago and picks him up.

"....Drago..." the beast growls.

"What's going on here?! I order you to kill them!" the mage starts screaming.

"He's not going to listen to you. At least, not anymore." a voice says as a ball of chaos energy shows up.

"Negative. I told you I could handle this."

"Clearly, you could not. Why should I bother gathering intelligence if you're not going to use it? Your beast will never attack that youngling."

"Then I'll use mind control magic to make it attack!"

"Here we go. Keep blabbing." Jcoss thinks to himself.

"It must first have a mind for you to control. That thing's fighting spirit is the only source of direction it has. Or, so I thought."

"Puppet magic should still work!" She yells back.

"Have fun getting close to that thing. Parents are pretty protective of their children. Especially these lizards."

"I can mana-wait. That's impossible! He didn't have children when he was alive! And how would you know, anyway?!"

"Once again, why do I bother gathering intelli-"

"Where did you get that corpse?!" Jcoss interrupts. "We were never able to find Drago's parents, so how could someone who hadn't been in Bern until a few years ago know?"

"Because my intelligence far exceeds yours, of-" Negative starts before having to dodge a claw swipe from the monster. The creature roars at the three of them, keeping Drago under its body. A black magic circle surrounds the area it's standing on.

"Where did you get that corpse?!" Jcoss yells again.

"...from the Sanctuary of the Dragon King." Vale hesitantly answers.

"That thing is Almia, isn't it?!"

"...yes."

"You stupid...! He's trying to get the Ground Zero technique off and you gave him a faster way of doing it!"

Jcoss rushes to the undead dragon and hits it in the skull. Then he launches a multitude of wind blades at him to no avail.

"Either of you feel like helping me?! You do know what Ground Zero will do to this area, right?!"

"Fine. Let's do this." Neg complies.
Negative starts saying incantations while Vale throws runes around the beast. A purple magic circle appears in front of Negative. Vales forms hand signs and the runes start floating. A wind is whipping around Jcoss as a tornado forms around the undead monster.

"Chaos Flare!"

"Bloody Stream! Night Raid!"

"Gilgamesh Gale!"

Negative fires repeated growing matter-antimatter blasts from his magical circle. Red energy lines wrap around the the beast while bats attack it from all sides. A tornado surrounds the dragon and slices the area inside the storm. They keep this attack up, intensifying as their attack continues. After a few minutes, they finally run out of energy. The area clears up to show the beast wrapping its arms around the area of impact. It gets up to reveal the young dragon a bit cut up underneath.

"We didn't even scratch it..." Vale points out, falling down in fear.

"Buck up. It means your experiment was a success." Negative says. "Unfortunately for us, it was a success."

"This is gonna be just as bad as I thought." Jcoss says aloud.

"So, you have an idea."

"Grab my pupil and run."

"It appears to have stopped its attack." Vale points out.

The energy surrounding the beast subsides as it stands on its back two legs. It places Drago on the ground and walks past its attackers.

"....touch him...and die..."

It walks out of sight and crashing sounds are heard.

"We'll be leaving now." Jcoss says. He walks over to Drago and picks him up. "Gotta keep an eye on that thing. Though, after it didn't try to get back at us, I'll assume it's under control."

As he walks through the mansion, he finds the golem smashed into bits.

"There's no way we could have won. We'll need to start training again if we want to even hope to match its power...well, you're late."

"Sorry, but there was some interference preventing me from entering." Dark says, sitting on a gravestone. "Something huge came out here earlier. What was it?"

"I'll explain when we get back home. For now, take Drago. I'm too tired to carry him back."

Dark hoists his friend on his shoulders and they head back to Bern, exhausted from today's events.
___________________________

"What now?" Vales asks. "The experiment was a complete failure."

"Not a complete failure. He wasn't affected by our magic, so I'll assume he's immune to all magic until we find something that works. We can definitely use that to our advantage. Finding out his origin and connections to the youngling was very interesting as well." Negative states, smirking.

"Finding out? I thought you knew?"

"Of course I didn't know! Can't let those lizards know that though. The signs did all match up though. To think, he had such a bloodline. I knew he'd be entertaining to keep around. Gyahahahaha!"

___________________________

A/N: And that's the end of this one. It's terrible, I know, but it's my first attempt at writing a mission gone badly. Revealed another member, though not a well known one possibly. First part of a 3 part mission arc. Next two involve our cold friends!

 

[Drago]

Spoiler: Chapter 9

The Frozen Holy Land, Ice Sanctuary~

"Everything here is so beautiful!" Loopy exclaims.

Sukichu and Loopy had just arrived in a frost covered forest near a sea and were searching for a famed destination. Loopy ran off with awe in her eyes as Sukichu decided to ask for directions from a passing guard of the area.
___________________________

"Have you two ever heard of The Covenant of the Seven Lights?" The Lady asks her ambassador and her treasure. Sukichu is holding a half-asleep Loopy up in her arms.

"No..." the sleepy one answers.

"That's Shineman's old group, right? Before he went nuts?" Sukichu asks.

"Correct. It's a group of seven mages previously under the Spectral Magician, Shineman. Back when he held the title of Merlin, he gathered the strongest of his own to build an elite force of...is she okay?" The Lady asks, looking at Loopy.

"She's just a little tired. Spinal, Maka and her trained late last night. Something about not being shown up."

"Seems prideful to me, but I'm glad they're taking their advancement seriously."

"I think it's adorable." Sukichu says, nuzzling her sister.

"...myeh..." Loopy tiredly rejects.

"Anyway, she can rest on your way there." Their leader explains.

"Our way, where?" Sukichu asks.

"Yukidaru Plains."
___________________________

[Yukidaru Plains. A cold area north of Bern home to a few villages inhabited by those who have adapted to their harsh frozen environment. Protected by the Covenant of the Seven Lights, former S-Rank group established and overseen by Shineman.]

"Thanks for your help!" Suki yells as she waves to a leaving frost knight. She sees Loopy a little ways away, hunched over. "You find something cool?"

"He's so cute!" her treasure answers, holding a baby dragon. "I didn't know of any groups that lived outside Bern. I grew discouraged after seeing that giant skeleton on the way here..."

"Actually, they're still citizens of Bern. We're barely outside the country's limits and in the process of annexing this area so they don't have to fear...never mind."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"No need to worry. It's being taken care of." she says, smiling. She leans over to tickle the baby snow dragon's stomach.

"If you say so. What'd you talk to that frost knight about?"

"Oh yeah! I know where the Ice Sanctuary is now. We can head over there as soon as you're ready."

"Ying! We can go after we find this one's home." Loopy explains, holding up the baby.

"I'll take the baby home, then meet you there. Go Northwest from here and it'll be at the top of a hill. There's a spell on it that prevents it from being seen from the sky. That's why we couldn't find it earlier."

"Oh, okay. I'll head straight there!" the tan dragon agrees. She hands the hatchling over and runs towards their destination.

Sukichu flies to the Agusnow village to drop off the baby, wondering what it was doing in the middle of the frozen plains, so far away from home.
___________________________

Loopy arrives at an impressive looking cathedral made entirely of ice. Outside, there appears to be 2 shady looking guys standing behind an unmarked stand. They try to wave her over and she just shakes her head.

"We need your help! A friend of ours is stuck inside and we can't enter." says the white haired dude wearing a skull jacket.

"We'd appreciate your assistance with this." the one wearing a crimson jacket and shades adds.

"Why can't you enter?" the young dragon asks, walking up.

"We do not know. Our friend was able to enter and went in first. He couldn't hear us say not to go in over a recent blizzard and got stuck inside."

"How did he get stuck?"

"He's blind. Been that way for a while now." The skull one answers.

"He's blind?! Why'd you let him go in by himself?!"

"We tried to make sure he didn't. He couldn't hear us and we didn't see him go in. Boss tried to run in there after him, but found out he can't. There was nothing we could do."

Suki walks up and puts her hands on Loopy's shoulders.

"Who're your new friends?" she asks.

"Their friend is stuck inside. I don't know their names though."

"I apologize. My name is Lemon and my associate here is Orge." Shades answers.

"Sup."

"Our friend is Balae. And no need to worry about taking too long to find him. He loves the cold."

"We haven't actually agreed to look for him yet." Suki points out.

"We'll pay you to help us out. He's the secret to our sales." Orge offers.

"What do you sell?"

"Coral jewelry. It's worth a lot, but Balae makes and holds the products in his home." Lemon explains.

"I love coral jewelry. I actually have a necklace with a Coral Charm back home."

"Hold onto that. He only ever made one charm. And he made it solely to be worn by sea dragons like myself and my brother."

"You two are sea dragons?" Loopy asks while her eyes sparkle.

"Just the boss. Anyway, are you guys heading in or what?" Orge asks.

"Of course. And no need to worry about a payment. We were already instructed to head inside. We'll just rescue your friend while we're in there." the Frozen Fang points out. "Come on, Loopy."

We'll see how far they get... Lemon thinks as he watches them walk inside. At least they were able to get in.
___________________________

The ice dragons walk through the grand ballroom to find nothing but an empty statue stand and a staircase in front of it. Columns line the room and large windows letting light in cover the tops of the walls.

"Magnificent..." says the older dragon in awe.

"I wonder what that stand is usually used for?" ponders the younger one, sitting on the staircase.

"We might find out if we search this place. There doesn't seem to be anyone on this floor."

They continue down the stairs to find themselves in a hallway. Running up and down the hall are a couple of kids with wolf ears and tails. Plus a frost mage watching over them.

"It's like a bunch of little Dragos." Loopy says to herself.

"Excuse me, sir. Have you seen a blind man here?" Suki asks the mage.

"That thievin' oof-lookin' bambot that walked in here? He's locked up in the dungeon." he answers.

Loopy looks confused.

"He called him a stupid thief. He's supposed to be a blind jewelry salesman."

"Think about what you just said..."

"We want to see him and get his part of the story." Loopy demands.

"If you insist. However, one of you is gonna have to stay here with the children. Ever since the leader of our faith left us, there's been no one to take care of them."
___________________________

Sukichu and the mage known as Lich travel through the halls while Loopy watches over the puppies.

"I was wondering...we found a baby snow dragon outside. Were you supposed to be watching over it?" asks Bern's ambassador.

"Most probably. We've been losing a lot of our citizens recently, though I'm sure you knew that already."

"..."

Passing through the underground passages of the church, they would pass training equipment, a library and a set of meditation rooms.

"Ere we are." Lich points out. They have arrived at the dungeons. Only 2 cells had any occupants though.

"Balae, are you here?" Suki asks.

"That was fast. The spirits must favor me." a voice from the back of the cell says.

A man with messy brown hair covering his face stands facing the cell door. He's wearing a blue and brown wetsuit and appears to have water dripping off of him.

"Whey?!" Suki exclaims, recognizing the man.

"Little Sukichu? Is it time for your visit already? I must have lost track of the time. Being locked in a cage does that to you."

"This man is our village's elder! He's certainly no thief!"

"Is that why I'm in here? News to me!" he laughs.

"Don't worry, Whey, I'll get you out soon enough. What is that bright light in the cell next to you?" she whispers.

"Not sure. From the sounds it makes, I'd say it's someone's soul. They must have had a powerful will to leave behind a solid soul."

"Why are you whispering? How do I know you're not just coming up with a lie to get him out of this?" Lich demands.

"What is that light in the cell next to Whey's?"Suki asks in response.

"The treasure of our great leader. He asked me to hold onto it while he's away."

"But, what is it?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Because it will soon be under Bern's protection. We need to know who we'll be defending it from and why."

"Bern is annexing Yukidaru? It's always been neutral territory!"

"Which has led families to send their children to the capitol to keep them safe." Whey intervenes.

The two turn to face the village elder.

"Thanks to our land not being affiliated to anyone, it has been pillaged, ransacked and burned. Our children kidnapped, our resources taken and our way of life threatened. If it wasn't for Little Sukichu's visits every year, no one would ever even ask about how our village is doing."

"While I'm not here on a formal visit, I was planning on visiting the village. I brought Loopy with me this time so she can see our home."

"I must apologize, but I'm under orders to attack anyone who wishes to take this home away from my master." Lich announces, holding his arms in front of him, left crossed over right.

"We're both ice elementals. This battle is pointless and will lead to nothing. Can we be diplomatic about this?"

"I'm sorry. I 'av no choice. I cannot betray such a great man."

"Are you speaking of-? Never mind. If I win, you will release my friend." Suki accepts.

"You'll bring this whole place down if you fight down here." Whey states.

"We'll go to the Grand Ballroom. I assume you know where it is?" Lich proposes, walking past her.

"Of course." she replies, magic circles popping up on the cage bars.
___________________________

Loopy is holding a wolf cub and watching over the others when she sees Suki and Lich go upstairs.

"What happened with Balae?" she asks.

"He's downstairs. Go pay him a visit." her sister replies.

"...okay. You guys wanna see something interesting?"

The wolf cubs nod and they head down to the jail.
___________________________

"What is your ranking in the Magician's Guild?" the Frozen Fang asks.

"I'm not affiliated anymore. As I said, this is neutral territory." the Frost Mage answers.

"What about the Covenant?"

"Of course. I am the Cobalt Crystal, Lich!"

"This is gonna sound weird, but did the air actually get colder around the entrance?" Orge asks.

Lemon just looks at the doorway, letting the cold air brush past him.
___________________________

A line of glaciers travel along the ground at the Ice Dragon. She strikes her palm at one directly in front of her, shattering it. Lich shoots multiple ice needles at her, all breaking off her wings. The mage tries to take advantage of the shielded dragon by launching small blizzard at her. She opens her wings and splits the blast in half.

"I understand that you do not wish to fight. I do not enjoy attacking peaceful creatures or possible allies. The choice is not mine to make..." the Cobalt Crystal laments.

Suki says nothing out loud, but can clearly be seen muttering something under her breath. She slams her left palm onto the ground and thrusts her right hand outwards, runes appearing in front of both. Lich jumps to the left to avoid an ice column rising from underneath him, only to be struck by a water ball hitting him and leaving him frozen against the wall. He quickly destroys his icy prison and punches the ground to create a wall made of stalagmites, blocking a small wave.

"Please go down quietly. You cannot win!"

He swings his hands outwards and the spikes shatter. As he's about to engage her again, he looks up to see a giant blue rune covering the ceiling.

"While it's true that I prefer not to fight, I am still one of the best in Bern's military. I am the Fang of the Frozen Sea and I will not be looked down upon! Aqua Magic! Aurora Freeze!" Suki commands.

A bubble surrounds her while an Aurora fills the room.
___________________________

"Thank you, child." says the elder as Loopy helps him out of the cell.

"No problem. It's my pleasure to help those who need it." she explains with a smile.

The cubs were sitting in front of the cell with the entity of light in it. It appeared to take a human shape and pet one of them.

"What is that?"

"You don't recognize him? Fair enough, considering you don't recognize your own grandpa."

"I know him? Wait...you're my grandpa?"

"It has been a while. I can't blame you for not recognizing me." he answers, laughing.

She hugs him tightly and squeezes the air out of him.

"I thought Suki and I were alone this whole time..." she says, crying tears of joy.

"We actually have an entire village here. Once Bern annexes Freezeland, you'll be able to come whenever you want." Whey replies, hugging her back.

"Why couldn't we before?"

"You would have been in too much danger thanks to the war. Now, don't you wish to know who your old friend is?"

Loopy looks at the figure, but won't let go of Whey.

"...Aqua Magic! Aurora Freeze!" they hear Suki yell from upstairs.

The cubs start crying, but calm down from the figure, now standing over them, shining a light on them all.

"Whoa..." Loopy exclaims in disbelief. "I need to go check on Suki! I'll be right back for you, grandpa!"

"I understand." Whey responds before Loopy runs upstairs.

He walks to the cubs and speaks to the figure.

"It looks like we can continue our conversation now."

It nods and gives a sad smile.
___________________________

Loopy makes it up to the Grand Ballroom to see everything cracked and chunks of the ceiling on the ground. She sees Lich on one knee, breathing heavily, but okay. She runs over to Suki to find her uninjured, but exhausted.

"What happened?" her treasure questions.

"I...told him...this was pointless..." she responds, breathing heavily.

"You are strong...a proud wielder of the...frozen element. It's my loss." Lich interrupts.

He stands up, walks over and falls in front of her.

She sits up with some help from Loopy and looks at him.

"What're you doing?"

"You came here for a reason. What was it?"

"To collect information on the Covenant of the Seven Lights and seek aid from them in protecting this land."

He rolls onto his back and laughs.

"Had I known that, this battle wouldn't have even happened!"

"That's why Suki was trying to talk to you about it!" Loopy scolds.

"Aye. It was my mistake. Rest assured that you will have Yukidaru's full support in your endeavors, lassie."

"We thank you for your help then. What info can you give about your comrades?" Suki asks.

"I can give you their names and titles, but I can't do no more than that."

"It's plenty."
___________________________

Escorting them back to the village, Lich is carrying about 3 of the 6 cubs while the others carry one each. Orge and Lemon help Whey with his cub and help him walk respectively. They arrive and take the kids home, delivering every one personally. Sukichu then delivers a speech (that I will do as a separate post) to the people of the village and shows Loopy around their home town.

They have such a great time, that on their way back, no one notices the skeleton from earlier is missing...

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A/N: Sorry this took such an incredibly long time.