Desert Dragon

by Michael Rogers

  Grey: *He sighed, as if Klaus was acting like a child.* "Niklauseh-"

  Klaus: "You dirty lamp!"

  Grey: *He quickly faced Klaus.* "I am your father! That is no way to speak to me!"

  Klaus: "Yohohoho..." *He looked down and covered his face with a growing smile.*

  Grey: "Don't laugh in such a tone to your father-"

  Klaus: "I have no father!"

  Grey: *He looked surprised and took a step forward.* "Don't be foolish-"

  Klaus: "Foolish? Me, being upset over the death of my son, foolish? You pathetic old man.. For someone who is over a hundred years old, I am disappointed with the way you are handling things."

  Grey: *He frowned and formed a fist.* "I can only let your attitude slide for so long.. Watch yourself, Niklauseh! You may be powerful to others, but you have still many years of honing your Remenistic skills before-"

  Klaus: "Powerful?" *He chuckled, triggering images of the aurora in the well.* "That will not be a problem."

  Grey: "What? Just what are you planning?"

  Klaus: "Goodbye, Grey." *He spoke without formality and suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, causing Grey to step forward in an urgent-like manner.*

  Grey: "Ginger!" *He screamed out Ginger's name, listening to it echo over every other sound.*

  --

  Klaus: "Eclipsing Typhoon."

  Sheridan: "Oh yeah?! Ougi!" *She screamed and watched the area turn into complete darkness.* (D-Darkness? If it's completely dark-)

  *Sheridan took a step back and gasped in shock, staring at the darkness with growing fear.*

  Sheridan: (My Nightwing can't come into motion-)

  Klaus: *He glided past Sheridan with the ease of being completely hidden in the darkness.* "Yoh-" *He sliced the scythe past Sheridan's head, watching her hair slice off with a smile.*

  *Klaus glanced at the men, watching their slow reaction to Sheridan's head falling off her body.*

  Klaus: (I'm sorry I haven't been able to act sooner, Sasuke.)

  *The area revert back to normal, revealing Klaus standing in the middle of the men.*

  Leader: *He watched the men stand around Klaus with dropping jaws.* "What are you doing? Strike him!-"

  *The men's bodies suddenly split in two, causing blood to quickly pool around their feet.*

  Klaus: *He lowered the scythe and faced the leader, watching the blood drip off the scythe's blade.* "..."

  Leader: "You may have been the best pupil to the Shadiatons, but even your drive isn't as strong as mine!"

  Klaus: "I understand this."

  Leader: "Oh? Then you know, my drive is to ultimately spread Shadiatons to those across the lands."

  Klaus: "The opposite of what this alliance was for.. I knew the entire time."

  Leader: "Then-?"

  Klaus: "This isn't about me, or you, or Shadiatons! This is for Sasuke!" *He positioned his hand on the scythe, as if he was ready to attack the leader.*

  Leader: "I don't want to, but I'll stop you here."

  Klaus: "You aren't strong enough to stop me anymore."

  Leader: "Anymore?" *He spoke to himself.* "You said yourself my drive was greater? That's what powers the Shadiatons!"

  Klaus: "Hmph." *He placed both hands on the scythe, causing it to suddenly shine a metallic silver.*

  Leader: "Your weapon? What is-?" *He watched an aurora sparkle glitter around the scythe.*

  Klaus: "Tell me before I slit your throat.. If it's not the Shadiatons that caused the yellow-eyed disease, then, what did?" *He suddenly puffed into smoke and appeared directly in front of the leader, with the scythe's blade jabbed against his throat.*

  Leader: "A-..Ah.." *He gasped in terror.* "I-Is this? Aurorions?!"

  Klaus: "Please respond." *He flicked his wrist, causing the blade to dig into the leader's neck.*

  Leader: "Radiatons.. Now that the path to Valhalla has been sealed, no person can step foot into their holy domain."

  Klaus: "Radiatons? Valhalla? I see." *He spoke with a smile of relief.* "Thank you."

  Leader: "Niklaus-"

  Klaus: *He suddenly sliced the scythe to the side, causing the leader to collapse onto the ground, motionless.* "This must be something important.. Despite their elemental affinity, there aren't many bad people with Radiatons."

  *Klaus raised his hand, causing the scythe to suddenly disappear in a sparkle of aurora.*

  Klaus: "I know one person that can enter the city without the need of special paths or secret teleportation Remenistal..."

  *Klaus walked over the bodies and stepped across the pools of blood, leaving behind bloody footprints.*

  Klaus: "Arcadia... Arcadia Forrier." *He suddenly disappeared in a shine of aurora coloured lights.*

  ----------

  Lezard: *He walked with Rachael and Trevour ahead of the guild, staring at an island in the distance.* "And as the amazing guild of wonders made their way back to the city-"

  Luna: "Luna and her companion, Destiny, thought about choking and killing Lizard for being the biggest annoyin' shit out."

  Lezard: "Oh? I don't like that part of the story." *He listened to leaves bristle in the wind and waves crash in the distance.*

  Luna: "Pssht." *She smirked and looked ahead.*

  Destiny: "Yeup." *She purred and enjoyed the sunlight.*

  Rachael: "We did it, guys." *She spoke with a smile, as she walked across damp dirt and grass.*

  Nathan: "Our first S classed mission."

  Trevour: "..."

  Lezard: "I know.. He was like Moonlight Reflection and I was like, Icicle Edge!"

  Karol: "Yooh don't know Icycle Edge?"

  Lezard: "Bwarharh, can't be passed your defences, Karol."

  Karol: "Nee hee."

  Luna: "So, do we get paid the usual way when completin' these types of missions?"

  Trevour: "It should be, madam. Just go up to Keeper, and she'll give out the rewards or set up an interview with the people that set up the quest."

  Rachael: "You don't sound too enthusiastic, Trevour."

  Luna: "Yea, ain't you the goody goody that tries to make everyone happy?"

  Trevour: "Heh heh. Although that's true, I can't help but feel our victory wasn't real."

  Luna: "Aye?"

  Nathan: "I gotta agree with Trevour. The Astragon Projection ended up leaving himself, not because of us."

  Rachael: "Dude, there was nothing mentioned in the quest or mission stating how we defeated the Astragon Projection, correct?"

  Trevour: "Correct."

  Rachael: "So, why so gloomy? It doesn't matter how we got rid of it, the prerequisites have been met."

  Lezard: "And I agree with Razzypoo. There were absolutely no rules or mission restrictions telling us how to complete our delightful adventure! Let's bask in the delicious rewards and don't look back!" *He wiggled his bottom to each side.*

  Rachael: "Hehe, see."

  Trevour: "I suppose I should stop thinking about our win so negatively, heh heh." *He looked up with a widening smile.* "At least we'll get to eat fine dishes for this month."

  Lezard: "Like royalty." *He giggled while continuing to wiggle his bottom.*

  Nathan: "Losers." *He rolled his eyes, trying to hide his smile.*

  Karol: "Loosarhs? But we won! How can we be loosarhs?"

  Nathan: "Ha ha." *He shook his head and brushed his fingers through Karol's hair in a rough-like manner.*

  Karol: "Stahp! I'ma man!"

  Nathan: "Oh yeah? What's a man like you gonna do about it?"

  Karol: *He puffed like a child and stamped his foot.* "I'll show yooh!"

  Lezard: "Ooo! Silver Wind Island!" *He giggled and stopped at the ledge, causing an aura made path to connect into the island.*

  Rachael: "Alright, before we go in, we need to decide what's happening?" *She glanced at each guild member in a serious-like manner.*

  Lezard: "I'll take the liberty of seeing Grey, telling him about what we learnt with the scary man." *He spoke with his b
ack facing the guild.*

  Rachael: "Alright, sounds good."

  Karol: "We need to keep doing wequests for the guild, or-"

  Rachael: "Or we won't be a guild anymore."

  Trevour: "Makes sense, boss."

  Rachael: "We should complete as many guild requests as we can before we hear back from Lezard with what's happening."

  Lezard: *He looked down, watching the waves crash along the rocky wall.* "I do have a terrible feeling deep down inside... We might as well enjoy our sensational time together."

  Rachael: "Lezard?" *She stepped forward, staring at his back.*

  Trevour: "Sounds like a good plan, sir." *He turned around to face the guild, causing his armour to rattle.* "We should split into two and do several B and A classed missions."

  Nathan: "Yeah, that sounds good. That way, our guild can do twice as many quests without getting noticed."

  Rachael: "Hehe, awesome idea, Trev."

  Trevour: "If nobody disagrees, perhaps Rachael and myself could go together." *He looked at Rachael with a smile.* "We seemed to have grown accustomed to our battle techniques from the years of training together."

  Rachael: *She nodded her head.* "I'm fine with that."

  Karol: (Splitting the guild in tooh. That's a great idea.) *He smiled in thought and noticed Lezard walking across the aura made path.* "Wezard?"

  Lezard: "Let's go, children."

  Rachael: "Alright-" *She faced the guild and formed a fist in determination.* "Let's go!"

  Luna: "Wat, is this an anime? We gonna nod our heads one by one and start sayin' our names? We don't need a speech or some heart warmin' motto to move ahead-, pssht." *She rolled her eyes and carefully adjusted her feet, allowing her to walk in the middle of the aura path.*

  Destiny: "Yeup." *She widened her eyes, ensuring Luna was away from the path's edges.*

  Trevour: "What's an anime, boss?" *He looked at Rachael in confusion.*

  Rachael: "Just cartoons." *She shrugged her shoulders.* "I never got into any of that stuff."

  Trevour: "Oh, okay, boss... What are cartoons?"

  Rachael: "Hehe, well-" *She took a deep breath and walked across the aura path, causing the rest of the guild to follow.*

  ----------

  *Twortz stood in a battle-ready pose, smiling at seven warriors who all pointed swords at her.*

  Twortz: (I'm just as thin as Rachael, well, before she-) *She swayed to the side, closely avoiding a sword to the face.*

  Twenty: "Ah-?!" *She staggered forward with the sword pointing past Twortz's side.*

  Twortz: "Too slow-" *She spun around and swept the warrior off her feet.* "You need to practice spreading your Astragons into the air, this way you'll move your body at a faster pace."

  Twenty: *She collapsed onto her side and looked up at Twortz, watching her deeply inhale towards her.* "No!-"

  Twortz: "Sonic Roar." *She screamed out a shock wave directly in front of the warrior, blasting her into the far distance.*

  Thirty-Four: "Azure Burst-" *He stood far away from Twortz, as his body glowed a shade of blue.* "Screeching Edge."

  Twortz: "Sound-based? Hahackee-" *She suddenly faced the warrior, who pointed the sword at her head with both hands.*

  Thirty-Four: *He watched swirls of sound gather around the base of his sword.* "Yarh!"

  Twortz: *She flashstepped directly in front of the man and gently placed her hand on his sword, causing the sounds to instantly fade away.* "Unless you require the use of the words to boost your attack, it's best to gather the Neurons before shouting your Azure Burst or Rostical."

  Thirty-Four: "Y-Yes, captain-"

  Twortz: "Yee-harh!" *She skipped forward and punched the warrior off his feet.* "Hahahackee!-" *She spiralled her arms and spun around, blasting the man back.*

  Thirty-Four: "Lark-" *He coughed and tumbled across the sand, dropping his sword in pain.*

  *The five remaining warriors suddenly became alerted and charged for Twortz, raising their swords in different manners.*

  Eighteen: "As your vice-captain, I'll show you we aren't weaklings!-"

  Twortz: *She started to sway her hips in a dancer-like manner.* "Hahahahckee-"

  Fifty-Two: "Horh! Double Slash!"

  Forty-Eight: "Triple Slash."

  Eighteen: *She flashsided several feet behind Twortz, causing her ankles to loudly crack.* (I hurt my ankles again!?)

  Twortz: *She spiralled back, avoiding two slashes of the sword.* "You need more Neuron build up in your shoulders-"

  Fifty-Two: "More Neurons in my shoulders-?"

  *Twortz closed her eyes with a smile and hopped to each side, avoiding three jabbing strikes.*

  Forty-Eight: (I missed at this range-?!)

  Eighteen: (I wasn't able to protect Nancy, my previous captain... What kind of vice-captain am I-?)

  Twortz: "How bitterly disappointing.. It took me almost three years to obtain this much power..." *She spun around and faced eighteen with an emotionless face.*

  Eighteen: (Only three years?!)

  Twortz: "How much training have you all had?" *She raised her feet and her body glowed a shade of blue.*

  Eighteen: "Captain!" *She shouted with a frown and tightly held the sword with both hands.* "Shattering Slice-"

  Twortz: "Sphere of Might." *She tapped her toes on the ground, causing a large violent pulse to push all five warriors off their feet.*

  Eighteen: (Imposs-)

  Twortz: *She bent her knees and jumped towards eighteen, watching the warriors fall back in slow motion.* "You all need to give yourselves goals.. Without a goal, you work towards nothing, and this explains your pathetic power level."

  Eighteen: *She gasped in shock, watching Twortz hover over her in mid-air.* "...-"

  Twortz: "Sonic Rush." *She placed her hand on eighteen's chest and pushed forward, listening to the sounds of bones cracking.*

  *Twortz spiralled back and landed on the ground with ease, watching all the warriors violently hit the ground.*

  Twortz: "And that concludes the weekly training with your captain."

  Eighteen: "K-K-K.." *She let go of the sword and struggled to breathe.*

  Twortz: "Continue with your missions.." *She gracefully turned around, facing the entrance into Sorrowprax's facility.* "I will see you all the same time next week. Any absentees or late arrivals will be punished with written warnings."

  *Twortz flashstepped without waiting for a response, leaving behind a pulse of sand.*

  --

  *Twortz appeared deep inside the stone corridors of Sorrowprax, listening to her armour echo with each rattle.*

  Twortz: "Tsst-"

  ?????: "Weren't you a little too harsh on your fellow warriors? Hahehahe."

  Twortz: "Sofia, how I treat my division is my own decision."

  Sofia: "Rhyme? I don't have the time." *She smirked evil-like and stepped out from behind a corridor, staring at Twortz's back.*

  Twortz: "What are you doing this far in Sorrowprax?"

  Sofia: "I had no idea I needed to explain myself to you, captain, and besides-" *She started to walk towards Twortz.* "I could ask you the same question."

  Twortz: "I'm here to use the Consultant's reports-" *She walked towards the darkness at the end of the corridor in front of her.*

  Sofia: "Still fixated on the ex-captain?"

  Twortz: "Indeed." *She walked into a poorly lit room with different sized screens hanging off the stone walls.*

  Sofia: "She used to be number two-" *She followed Twortz into the room.* "She wouldn't make it easy to be found-"

  Twortz: "I see." *She started typing on a keyboard-like console, causing a screen to pop up with images of two different continents.*

  *A warrior with the number ten engraved on her back armour spun around on a swivel chair and looked at Twortz and Sofia in confusion.*

  Ten: "You two shouldn't be in here without the presence of the Consultants."

  Sofia: "It's Sofia and the number two ranking captain, settle
down, number ten."

  Ten: "But-"

  Sofia: "Unless.." *She looked at the warrior and smiled, licking her lips.* "You wanted to play a game?"

  Ten: (Th-Those eyes-) "N-No, I'm fine." *She quickly swivelled back and faced the console she was working on.* (Just pretend they're not here. Just pretend they're not here.)

  Twortz: "As I expected."

  Sofia: "Harh?" *She focused back on the screen, placing a hand on her waist for a more comfortable stance.* "What have you found?"

  Twortz: "I've confirmed she is no longer residing on this continent."

  Sofia: "She's on Surpreon's side. This opens a few new levels to the game. But how?"

  Twortz: "A Neuron signature works similar to scanning for DNA."

  Sofia: "Blood?"

  Twortz: "Yes." *She spoke in a professional-like manner and smiled, watching different images of landscapes flicker on the screen.* "By scanning her last known Neuron signature, I was able to thoroughly scan the continent several times before coming to the certainty of her whereabouts."

  Sofia: "So you purposely scanned this one continent first?"

  Twortz: "Wasn't that obvious?"

  Sofia: "Hahehahe." (She knows how to play the game, and she plays it well.)

  Twortz: "I've calculated in the next seven months, I'll find her location."

  Sofia: "It could even be shorter if you accidentally bump into her one day, or she releases her Neurons."

  Twortz: *She discreetly frowned with inner rage.* "Yes. If she releases her Neurons beforehand, I'll be able to pinpoint the location and go there myself."

  Sofia: "Just remember, the Consultant's major plans."

  Twortz: "The Unknown Territories."

  Sofia: "Yes. Them."

  Twortz: "Zayden has already activated three of them-"

  Sofia: "Last I heard, you're the captain in charge of them now."

  Twortz: "Indeed. The fourth one has recently been activated."

  Sofia: "Harh? It has?"

  Twortz: "Yes."

  Sofia: "Where was it?"

  Twortz: "It was under the water, that's why I couldn't locate it."

  Sofia: (My love.. I know you've been missing for a while.. But, it's cheating not keeping me updated with your progress.) *She formed fists.*

  Twortz: "Regardless. I excel in time management and action plans. It won't be hard for me to maintain both my important mission and my extracurricular activities."