Desert Dragon

by Michael Rogers

  Rachael: "It looks strange." *She watched small purple rings pulse underneath the sphere in amazement.* "Is this a Spacial Funnel too?"

  Champion: "It's much more than that. It's smaller than The Agoura Marbles, but the density of Astragons far surpass it." *She spoke with her high-pitched tone of voice.*

  Luna: *She started to look uncomfortable, as people continued to brush past her.* "It's bloody busy-"

  Trevour: "I kind of agree with what Luna is portraying. Where will we go and be staying of course?"

  Rachael: "There should be an Inn somewhere-"

  Nathan: "Over there-" *He pointed behind Rachael and to a large house with a wooden plank hanging off the entrance, with the words 'Inn' on it.*

  Karol: *A man holding a battle axe knocked past Karol and stormed towards the sphere.* "Wah-"

  Luna: "Oi, watch where you're goin', aye." *She grunted in a protective-like manner.*

  Man: *He glared at Luna without losing walking speed towards the sphere.* "Keep your kid out of harm's way. This is Battling Oxident, not kid's-ville, nah?"

  Karol: "Loona-"

  Luna: "Wanna piece of me, shitfuck?!" *She grunted and stormed through the guild, as if she was going to follow the man.*

  Man: "Oh?" *He stopped with a smile and faced Luna, purposely raising his axe.*

  Luna: "Yea, come at me!"

  Destiny: "Yeup!"

  Trevour: "Oh no, this could be temperamental-" *He looked at Rachael.* "Boss, could you please say something-"

  Rachael: *She nodded her head and took several steps forward.* "We'll take you on!"

  Trevour: "P-Pardon me?" *He sounded surprised.*

  Lezard: "Ooo, plot twist! Rachael isn't filling out her motherly-like character role!"

  Karol: "Waichael? Loona?" *He stared at their backs, as they stood in front of him.*

  Nathan: *He chuckled and stood next to Luna, placing his hand on his sword.* "I'm with them."

  Trevour: "Not you too, sir?"

  Champion: "Oh my?" *She stood next to Trevour, as if she was surprised as well.*

  Karol: "Nafan?"

  Nathan: "You're a man, stop saying our names like that." *He mumbled in his deep voice so only Karol could hear.*

  Karol: "R-Rhight!" *He nodded his head and frowned, puffing out his chest.* "I'ma man!"

  Trevour: "I don't understand-?"

  Man: "Get over yourselves! I just bumped past a stupid brat! Noofin' to bad, nah?"

  Nathan: "We're a family."

  Rachael: "And if you've got something against one of us-"

  Luna: "Then ya against all of us!"

  Destiny: "Yeup, yeup!"

  Karol: "E-Everywon." *He started to pout with watering eyes.*

  Lezard: "Bwarharh, if I like it or not-" *He wiggled his bottom to each side and skipped next to Nathan, forming a line.* "I'm part of these little monsters!"

  Champion: "Why are you all over reacting?"

  Trevour: "I agree, miss. This is not essential to what we want to do-"

  Luna: "That's 'cause!-"

  Rachael, Nathan and Karol: "The Rostical Guild!"

  Luna: "The Rostickal Guild!"

  Lezard: "The Delicious Warriors!"

  Destiny: "Yeup!"

  Champion: "A guild?"

  Trevour: (They go this far for the guild?)

  Man: "Whatever, nah?" *He waved the guild off and turned back around, stepping into the pulsating sphere.*

  Rachael: *She watched bright white ripples flow around where he entered, causing her to look at Karol.* "Are you okay?"

  Karol: "Uhm-" *He readied to nod his head.*

  Nathan: "Don't baby him." *He marched towards the sphere, causing the people to notice and move out of his way.*

  Rachael: "This sphere-" *She stared at several glyphs with unreadable text on it in curiosity.* "Is this Battling Oxident?"

  Lezard: "This is Surpreon, but inside that sphere is Battling Oxident."

  Luna: "I wanted to know wat this city looked like, but it's too bloody busy."

  Destiny: (It's a little disorientating.)

  Luna: (Yea, say that again!) *She grunted in thought and slowly followed Nathan through the crowd.*

  Champion: "Once Battling Oxident finishes, it becomes very quiet."

  Trevour: "So we can explore Surpreon in peace? Heh heh."

  Champion: "I also have an old friend that lives in Surpreon, we can reside there."

  Luna: "Free accommodation, yes please!"

  Trevour: "Free, madam?" *He looked confused, as he purposely looked over the massive crowd towards the Inn.*

  Luna: "I'm a tight arse, aye, aha."

  Nathan: "Hmph." *He stepped into the sphere, causing it to ripple around him.*

  Karol: *He stopped right next to the sphere and looked up, observing its size.* "It looks sckary."

  Lezard: "Children." *He stopped behind the guild, causing them to turn around.* "You all enjoy the games, but I'll need to take my leave."

  Trevour: "Leave? But why, sir?"

  Karol: "Wezard, you karn't leave the guild!" *He stamped his foot for emphasis.*

  Luna: "Pssht, let him go. He makes me hungry every time he squeals fish-cakes."

  Lezard: "Bwarharh, I'll miss you too."

  Luna: "Aye? I won't, like.. No." *She looked away.*

  Rachael: "Will you be back soon?"

  Lezard: "I'll try and catch the last match." *He giggled and nodded his head, as he stepped to the side, readying to leave.*

  Trevour: "Alright, good luck, sir."

  Lezard: "Of course! I'll quickly give you something to remember me by-" *He pulled out a small pocket-sized book.*

  Champion: "What is that?"

  Lezard: *He flipped through the pages and coughed to clear his throat.* "Johnny spoke to the Neuron Instructor, can you teach me how to do the splits?" *He paused, glancing at the guild.*

  Champion: "Who's Johnny?"

  Rachael: "I think he's reading out a joke-"

  Lezard: "Gym Instructor, how flexible are you?" *He paused again.* "Well..I can't make Tuesday's... Bwarharh, get it?"

  Luna: "Lame!"

  Champion: "Oh, I just got it! He asked if he's flexible, but this Johnny person took it the wrong way!"

  Luna: "Um, yea, thanks!.."

  Lezard: "Ooo, here's one for you, Loonzamotto!"

  Luna: "Oh god." *She folded her arms and sighed.*

  Lezard: "Why do farts stink? So deaf people can enjoy them too."

  Luna: "I'm blind not deaf, dipshit."

  Trevour: "Heh heh." *He laughed at Luna's reaction instead of the joke itself.*

  Champion: "That's also funny." *She spoke with a smile and turned back around.* "As the champion, I must take my leave. We hope to see you soon."

  Rachael: "Hehe, we better go, Lezard." *She nodded her head in agreement.*

  Karol: "You're part of our guild! Don't forget it!" *He stamped his foot and turned around, bravely stepping into the sphere.*

  Lezard: "And as Lezard watched his delicious guild members enter Battling Oxident's sphere, he turned around and readied to leave Surpreon-"

  ?????: *A large buff man scratched his head in thought, suddenly smirking to himself.* "Freya?"

  Lezard: "Freya?" *He looked down, noticing a black husky, dog-like Scoldrant stand in a battle-ready pose.*

  Freya: "Gruff! Grr." *She growled and frizzed her fur up, causing the crowd to scream.*

  ?????: "Cool." *He smiled and shoved a bread roll into his mouth, rubbing his hands.* (Free hands.) *He cracked his knuckles, watching the crowd split into a path towards the sphere.*

  Lezard: (That's one way of getting through this busy crowd-) *He noticed another man stare at Freya with a smirk.*

  ?????: "Kool. I'm a little surprised-" *He watched Freya trot into the crowd.* "The dumb dog is actually useful, aha." *He smiled and chuckled, running towards the opening.*

  Lezard: "Holy fish-cakes, he talks like Luna?!" *He gasped to himself in shock, wiggling his bottom to each
side.*

  *Lezard watched the young man that spoke like Luna run up to the sphere, placing his arms on his waist.*

  ?????: "You wouldn't think this could contain so much crap." *He mumbled and looked down, staring at Freya sitting next to him.* "Dumb dog."

  *A teenage girl with ridiculously long blonde hair, which was tied up in two ponytails, crawled along the ground.*

  ?????: "I say-" *She crawled along the ground, staggering between people's legs.* "Eek-" *She tried to avoid the excited people from stepping on her fingers.*

  Lezard: (A three-member party? Or are they a guild too-?)

  ?????: *The man who stood at the sphere turned around and stared at the buff man and teenage girl, rolling his eyes.* "Are ya's ready?"

  ?????: *The buff man nodded his head and formed a fist, placing a hand on his arm.* "Sure am."

  ?????: *The teenage girl nodded her head like a child.* "Yeah, yeah?"

  ?????: "Kool, let's go." *He grunted and walked into the sphere, causing it to ripple like water.*

  ?????: *The buff man stepped into the sphere, causing the area to swirl and blur around him.* (It looks like I'm in the middle of a storm-)

  Lezard: "Well, if I was a reader, I'd be confused at who was talking, bwarharh." *He giggled and started to walk away, avoiding the excited crowds around him.*

  ----------

  *Rachael, Trevour, Karol and Luna stepped onto dirt ground, in front of a large gate-like opening.*

  Karol: "Nafan?" *He looked around, noticing the many different shaped footprints in the dirt.*

  Rachael: "The champion is gone, too-"

  *Loud sudden cheers caught their attention, causing them to look towards the gate.*

  Trevour: "It sounds like it's already started."

  Luna: "So, if memory serves me right, it's just like a stadium."

  Trevour: "That's right, madam, heh heh."

  Karol: "Where do we go? I've nevarh been here before." *He unintentionally stood closer to Rachael, tugging on her clothes.*

  Trevour: "If Season, the ruler has purchased the warriors as aid, we're usually transported directly into the spectator seats-"

  Luna: "So ya don't know?"

  Trevour: "That's right, madam."

  Luna: (Why didn't he just bloody say so?)

  Destiny: "Yeup." *She purred in agreement, causing Luna to smile.*

  Rachael: "Alrighty-" *She slammed her foot on the ground and concentrated, causing her to look to the side.* "Past the gate, there's two stairs that lead up into rows of seats."

  Luna: "I'm hell picturin' movie aisles, aye."

  Rachael: *She clicked her fingers with a smile.* "That's what I'm seeing!"

  Luna: "Aha, kool."

  Trevour: "Let's go, everyone!"

  Karol: "Let's cheer our guild memba!" *He raised his arm and smiled.*

  Luna: "I don't care how well Nathan goes, aye."

  Rachael: *She started to walk towards the gates and took a right.* "The spectator seats to the left are all filled up-"

  Karol: "Will this be more eggsciting than the race?"

  Rachael: "Exciting, and probably." *She sounded disappointed.*

  Trevour: "What's wrong, boss?"

  Rachael: "I can hear a spectator's voice, we've already missed the opportunity to sign up hey."

  Trevour: "Next time, boss? We can sign up our names in advance."

  Rachael: "Cool. Let's cheer our friend on!"

  Luna: "Wateva. As long as you keep the corny shit down, aye."

  ----------

  *Nathan leant against a stone wall inside a large waiting area, filled with different type of warriors.*

  Nathan: *He kicked the dirt ground and looked to his side, staring at a large dirt, arena-like pit.* (I already defeated several opponents effortlessly.)

  *Nathan observed a large woman dressed in tight pink leather, eating a pork-chop.*

  Nathan: (Most of the warriors in these games are lame. Some Battling Oxidents are really hard with the competition, while other games are filled with-) *He watched twin sisters dressed in pink and blue clothing skip into the arena.*

  ?????: *The pink-haired girl smiled at her blue-haired sister.* "We must do this."

  ?????: "And do this, we shall."

  Spectator: "Welcome back to another Battling Oxident!" *His voice echoed across the facility, causing the audience to roar in excitement.*

  Rachael: *She started to walk up wooden steps, glancing at each row filled with cheering spectators.* "Wow-"

  Man: "We want another match of the champion!"

  Woman: "Show me a lightning user!"

  Big Nosed Fella: "I wanna see some flames, snorck snorck!" *He shouted out and rubbed his long nose, snorting in excitement.*

  Rachael: *She shuffled down an empty row, causing Karol, Trevour and Luna to follow.* "It sounds like his voice is coming out from a microphone."

  Luna: "It's pretty kool, aye." *She sat down and leant forward, looking down at the arena.*

  Trevour: *He smiled, adjusting the armour around his waist.* "It will be nice watching the matches without worrying about duty work, heh heh."

  Karol: "When's Nafan starting?" *He glanced across the arena, staring at two large gates on each side in curiosity.*

  Trevour: "I'm not sure, little meister. We've kind of just been following the champion and Nathan-"

  Spectator: "Our first match is Lance Lighten."

  Luna: "Aye?"

  Rachael: "What did he just say?!"

  Karol: *He noticed the audience in the front and back rows suddenly grow quiet.* "Why did they-?"

  Bird Nest Woman: *A woman with two little birds living in a large nest-like hairdo, looked over her shoulder to Karol.* "Ssh! The games have started."

  Karol: "S-Sowwy."

  ?????: *A man walked out from one of the gates, looking up to the crowd.* "..."

  Trevour: "Who's that gentleman?"

  Luna and Rachael: ".. Lance?"

  Spectator: "And here comes Trinity and Infinity Upper."

  Karol: "H-Hah?"

  Trevour: (There was two names?)

  Lance: "Oh, no thanks! There's two of them, that's cheatin'!" *He shouted towards the spectator, swaying his arms for emphasis.*

  Spectator: "Their battle requirements meet the standard rules."

  Lance: "Standard rules my ass." *He grunted, watching two women skip into the battle arena.*

  Karol: "I-It's them.." *He squealed on his breath in shock.*

  Trinity: "Are you okay, sister?"

  Infinity: "Okay, I am, sister."

  Trevour: "Who are they, little meister?"

  Luna: "They look identical, but one's pink and the other blue."

  Rachael: "You can see colours?!" *She gasped at Luna in shock with a confused smile.*

  Karol: "They're my cuzzins."

  Trevour and Rachael: "Cousins?!" *They glanced at Karol in shock and quickly looked to their other side at Luna.* "You can see colours?!"

  Karol: "Yhes."

  Luna: "Ah ha." *She smirked in a proud-like manner and placed her hand on Destiny.*

  Trevour: "When could you see colours, madam?"

  Rachael: "And this is the first time in years we've seen anyone from your city, Karol."

  Karol: "I-I know.." *He spoke to himself in shock.*

  Luna: "Yea.. Destiny can also fly too." *She spoke in a carefree-like manner, as if it was nothing important.*

  Trinity: "Are you ready, sister?"

  Infinity: "Yes, maybe we'll meet Karol here?"

  Trinity: "Karol? I don't think that kid has even left the ruins yet."

  Lance: "Great, twins?"

  Trinity: "He's pretty observant, don't you think?"

  Infinity: "Harh harh, he looks a bit stupid I think."

  Trinity: "Stupid indeed."

  Infinity: "He's indeedly stupid, harh harh."

  Lance: "Aye? You look stupid with that pink hair." *He rudely pointed at Trinity, focusing his attention to Infinity.* "And you w
ith the blue hair! Tryin' to be kool?"

  Trinity: "Cooler than you, harh harh."

  Infinity: "Cooler than him, we are." *She smiled, flicking her blue hair in a girl-like manner.*

  Lance: "Wateva. Just 'cause you're girls doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on ya."

  Trinity: "Right." *She swayed to each side in a rhythmic-like pattern.*

  Rachael: (I haven't seen anyone else besides Karol and Twortz dance, so I wonder how well they will fight?)

  Trevour: "How will they engage in combat?"

  Karol: "What do you meen?"

  Trevour: "You can only use support dances, how will they actually attack?"

  Karol: *He looked down and formed little fists.* "I... It's only me."

  Rachael: "I've also seen Twortz use dances to attack."

  Luna: "I wonder wat that fat bitch is up to, aye. Haven't seen her since she back stabbed us all."

  Rachael: "Luna.. Be respectful-"

  Luna: "Respect is earned, not given." *She grunted in disgust, as if she knew she didn't like Twortz.*

  Trevour: "You're starting to sound like Nathan, heh heh-"

  Luna: "Shut up, Rusty."

  Destiny: "Yeup." *She floated out of Luna's arms and landed on her head.*

  Spectator: "The match will begin, now!"

  Infinity: "I'll be support."

  Trinity: "Support you'll be." *She smirked with a confident frown.*

  Infinity: *She hopped backwards, straightening her arms.* "Here we go."

  Trinity: (We better finish our matches quickly, if we take too long we'll annoy the Consultant-) "Got it!" *She jumped on one foot and reached into her clothing, pulling out a rapier.*

  Lance: "Pssht, bring it." *He stared at Trinity, readying his sword with confidence.*

  Infinity: *She lifted her arms over her head and spiralled in a dance-like manner.* "Almost sister."

  Lance: *He looked at Infinity with confusion, staring back at Trinity.* (Fine she can dance there-)

  Trinity: "Harh!" *She ran forward, slashing Lance with her rapier.* "O-Oh no."

  Lance: *He pushed Trinity back with his sword and looked down.* "That didn't even nudge my sword."

  Trinity: *She gritted her teeth with impatience, quickly spiralling back.* (Hurry up will you?!)

  Trevour: (She distanced herself from that gentleman very elegantly and quickly.)

  Infinity: *She kicked the ground, causing an enormous orange glyph to expand from her foot.* "Power Up."

  Karol: (Power Up...)