Desert Dragon

by Michael Rogers

  Alan: *He punched away the steel pole, glancing at his copy.* "It's like he doesn't feel pain."

  Alan: "His Neurons haven't stopped increasing-"

  Zazark: "Fufufufu!" *More veins started to throb from his eerie glowing eyes and his teeth started to chip away, forming sharp canine-like teeth.*

  Trevour: (His body is going through a metamorphosis?)

  Alan: "Use lava, I'll keep him busy." *He raised his fists, looking at his other copy.*

  Alan: "Alright." *He started to focus, causing his stone hammer to glow yellow, as it started to liquefy.*

  Zazark: "Fufufu." *The whip in his hand suddenly shredded into tiny bits, causing both copies of Alan to grunt in confusion.* "STEELIGHT RETENTION"

  *Zazark waved both hands into the air, causing a swirl of metallic to spiral into the shape of a whip.*

  Zazark: "Fufufufu." *He looked down and lowered his arms, watching all his hair fall out.*

  Alan: "What the-?"

  Trevour: (He liquefied his Rostical? And he suddenly lost all his hair-?!)

  Zazark: *He jumped forward and swayed the metallic liquid across Alan, bursting his head to one side.* "Fufufu-"

  Trevour: "Brother!" *He shouted in terror and watched the pieces of head turn into pebbles.* "Oh my gosh! Thank the Astragons!"

  Alan: *He watched a string of lava swirl in front of him.* (Despite being a copy, it was a duplicate of my Neurons and Astragons-)

  Zazark: *He ran towards Alan at incredible speeds, whipping the metallic liquid towards him.* "Fufufu-"

  Alan: "Incinerate my foes!" *He pushed forward, splashing three streams of lava towards Zazark.*

  Zazark: *He purposely ran into the lava, causing his skin to melt off his arm.* "Fufufufu!"

  Alan: "What-?"

  Zazark: "Harh!" *He swayed to the side and the metallic liquid whacked Alan across the face, violently tumbling him through the air.*

  Alan: "Heh-" *He hit the shore, causing Trevour to twitch in fear.*

  Trevour: (My oldest brother.. Getting thrown around like this!)

  Alan: *He punched the ground, causing a pulse of sand to blow away from him.* "I can't tolerate this. I have Meister blood running through my veins."

  Zazark: "This power..." *His voice sounded more computerised.* "You will die!"

  Alan: *He frowned to himself and held his chest in pain.* (That liquid was more dense than crystalline structures!)

  Zazark: *He glanced at Alan with widening eyes, ignoring the drool which dripped from his own chin.* (A critical hit!) *He threw his metallic liquid directly towards Alan.*

  Alan: "ROCK PILLAR" *He clapped his hands and punched the ground.*

  *A rock pillar shot up in between Zazark and Alan, blocking the metallic liquid.*

  Zazark: *He twisted his wrist as if he was holding onto a whip, causing the metallic liquid to swirl around the rock pillar and towards Alan.* "Fufufu!"

  Alan: "How-?" *A sphere of lava swirled around him.*

  Felipe: "Brother!" *He motioned his hands around Alan, as if he was controlling the lava.*

  Rosemary: "I can't tolerate this." *She flew on a floating piece of boulder and pushed down, shooting tiny bullet-like pebbles towards Zazark.*

  Zazark: *Sparks flashed off his scale-like skin, as if it was a type of metallic substance.* "Fufufu!"

  Felipe: *He pointed at Zazark as a ring of pebbles swirled around his finger.* "Powers of the proud brown, beat and skip through the winds, GRAVEL'S PULSE"

  *Felipe pushed forward and a ring of pebbles swirled in front of Zazark, bursting in his face.*

  Zazark: *He stepped back slightly disorientated, wiping away debris.* "Fufufu."

  Rosemary: "Blinding dust, rain down-" *She flew high in the air and moved her toes, tilting the floating rock she rode.* "ROCK SLIDE" *She pushed down, shooting a wave of bullet-like pebbles into the shore around Zazark.*

  Zazark: "MYSTIC SHIELD" *A glass-like shield raised above him, blocking Rosemary's attacks.*

  Alan: *He watched the lava vaporise around him, allowing him to stand up.* "We're-"

  Rosemary, Felipe and Alan: "The Blazing Trio!"

  Alan: "Pockets of fire, burn, BLAZING HAVOC" *He yelled at the sky and a beam of red magma crashed down on top of Zazark, burning away the remaining skin and clothes on his body.*

  Rosemary: "What kind of creature is that?"

  Felipe: "Is he a Scoldrant?"

  Alan: "He's that Black Brigade member I fought ages ago."

  Rosemary: "Blinding dust, rain down, ROCK SLIDE" *She punched downwards, continuing to shoot more bullet-like pebbles at Zazark.*

  Felipe: "ROCK PILLAR" *He punched upwards, causing a rock pillar to shoot up, smashing Zazark in the chest.*

  Alan: "BLAZING HAVOC" *He yelled at the sky and another beam of red magma crashed down on top of Zazark, melting the sand around him.*

  Zazark: "Fufufu." *His eyes glowed a bright, fluoro yellow colour, causing a warped pulse to blow away the nearby rocks and lava.*

  Rosemary: "How is one person still standing after confronting The Blazing Trio-?"

  Alan: "His Neurons just rivalled the number two warrior of the Consultants!"

  Zazark: "Ougi." *The rocks and strings of lava violently pulsed away from him.*

  Rosemary: "Brothers!"

  Zazark: "This power.. It used to heal and revitalise." *He glanced at his dark coloured scales in amazement.*

  Felipe: "Heal? Is he talking about Radiatons?"

  Zazark: *The non-damaged sand around him started to harden and crack.* "Ground and water draw each other's power, liquefy and harden-"

  *A multicoloured glyph of green, blue and brown colours, materialised and drew itself underneath Zazark.*

  Rosemary: "A glyph of three colours?"

  Trevour: "A mixture of three elements?"

  Felipe: "Shut up, little brother! We'll deal with you after this guy-"

  *A vine suddenly shot up and wrapped itself around Felipe, choking him with a tightening hold.*

  Alan: "Felipe! ROCK PILL-"

  *Three vines suddenly shot out of the ground and whipped around Alan, violently grabbing hold of him.*

  Rosemary: "Brothers!" *She noticed vine-like branches swayed towards her.* "Oh no you don't!" *She tilted to each side, closely avoiding the branches.*

  Zazark: "LIFA BLOSSOM" *He shouted with an echoing computerised voice, as over twenty branches burst out of the ground, all following Rosemary on her floating boulder.*

  Trevour: "Rosemary!"

  Rosemary: *She weaved in and out of the scissoring branches.* "Alan, Felipe, can any of you use lava?!"

  Zazark: *He flicked his wrist and a branch hit the boulder under Rosemary, causing her to fall out of the sky.* "Fufufu."

  Rosemary: "ROCK-" *Several branches wrapped themselves around her in mid-air, stopping her from falling.*

  Champion: *She slowly regained consciousness.* "Where-?"

  Zazark: *He ran towards the champion and kicked her in the face, blasting her across the shore.* "Fufufu."

  Champion: "K-?" *She smashed through several branches and tumbled into the sand, instantly falling back unconscious.*

  Trevour: (His power is-)

  Rachael: "Stop!" *She slowly stood up and held two daggers in anger, ignoring a yellow bruise which appeared around her neck.* "That's as far as you go!"

  Zazark: "Fufufu." *He slowly turned around and faced Rachael with a consistent smile, as his lips had been burnt off.*

  Rachael: *She stared at Zazark's canine-like teeth, hiding her disgust.* "Wow, what happened to you?"

  Zazark: *He suddenly shot several vine-like branches through Rachael's chest, causing her to cough out blood.* "Fufufu."

  Trevour: "Boss!"

  Rachael: "No..." *Trevour's cries echoed in her head, as the daggers suddenly exploded into crystal.*

  Alan: *He glanced at the crystals, trying to break out of the thickening branches.* (Her Neuron signature vanished... Is this the same mode or technique she use
d at The Agoura Marbles?)

  Rachael: ".. You will suffer-" *She screamed the last word and suddenly collapsed, as if all the energy had been drained out of her.*

  Zazark: "Fufufu." *He licked the scales around his mouth, as if he enjoyed it.*

  Trevour: *He started to hyperventilate.* (Everyone...) "Stop it!"

  Zazark: "You have the least amount of wounds and you chose to sit there and do nothing-"

  Trevour: "The aurora lights bend and swirl the gravel into liquid, turn to dust and sand, watch it vacuum your sins, SWIRLING SANDPIT"

  Zazark: *He noticed his feet started to sink.* "Fufufufu." *He flicked his wrists up, causing vine-like branches and metallic strings to sway out of the ground around him.*

  Rosemary: *She struggled to move in the tightening vines and watched Zazark continue to sink in the quicksand.* (He doesn't seem to care about his own well-being, but rather an all out offence.)

  Zazark: "I will watch my Rostical pierce into your flesh and slice up your intestines." *He chuckled with his computerised voice, readying to whip the vines and metallic liquid at Trevour.*

  Trevour: (I won't allow you to strike!-) "Taste the power of crushing currents, devour the sacred sands, DIRTCLOUD TALONS" *He flicked his arm and watched streams of sand spiral out of his fingers tips, slashing the branches around Zazark.*

  *Rosemary, Felipe and Alan all collapsed to their knees, as the vines lost their strength.*

  Nathan: "Egh." *He held his head in pain and looked up, staring at Zazark with widening eyes.*

  Lezard: *He slowly regained consciousness and instantly noticed Karol, Rachael and the champion lying motionless.*

  Trevour: (I'm already tired!-) "Liquid of creation, dry out and swirl into your fury, DUST STORM"

  *A swirl of dirt spiralled around Zazark and erupted around him, separating the metallic streams.*

  Zazark: "MYSTIC SHIELD" *A glass-like shield swirled around him and burst, blowing away the swirling dirt and sand.*

  Lezard: *A white glyph started to draw itself under his feet.* "Sacred light of Radiatons cluster and form, aid and replenish what has been lost-"

  Trevour: "Damp corrosion of sand, ROTTEN SLAB" *He swayed his arm upwards, causing a string of dark brown mud to whip across Zazark's face.*

  Zazark: "That's enough-" *He wiped the mud off his face and noticed a sand shaped hammer slam him in the face, causing him to stumbled back.*

  Trevour: "Temperamental sands, crush! SAND HAMMER" *He took deep breaths and dropped to his knees, causing his armour to rattle.*

  Zazark: "Fufufu-"

  Lezard: (The three Meister siblings, Razzypoo, cheesy champion, little Karol Uper, Loonzamotto, Destiny, notorious Nathan, terrific Trevour... Ten people in need.. Oh boy-) "SOOTHING LIGHT"

  Zazark: "Hmm?" *He looked up and noticed a ball of light suddenly shoot ten rays of light downwards, bursting on top of each party member.*

  Lezard: (Well, there goes all my Neurons and Radiatons..) *He struggled to keep his head up, as all the motionless guild members twitched into consciousness.*

  Zazark: "Useless." *He swayed his hand and the metallic liquid sliced past Trevour, cutting some of his armour off.*

  Karol: "Twevour?"

  Trevour: "Do what you will to me, I'm tired of standing on the sidelines, watching my family get hurt!"

  Rachael: "I don't think their wounds are that bad-"

  Trevour: "I'm talking about The Rostical Guild!" *He shouted with pride, as he puffed out his chest at Zazark.*

  Rachael: "Oh?"

  Zazark: "Fufufu!" *He cupped his hands, condensing the metallic liquid into a ball.* "Stop talking-"

  Nathan: "No! At that close range, Trevour will-"

  Luna: (Shit! Destiny do somethin'!)

  Destiny: *She floated up, as if she just regained her strength.* "Yeup-"

  Karol: *He suddenly ran in front of Trevour and spread his arms, staring at Zazark with a child-like frown.* "Stahp!"

  Alan: "What is the kid doing?"

  Felipe: "Is the brat suicidal?"

  Trevour: "Little meister-"

  Karol: "Stahp! Stahp hurting my famwily!"

  Trevour: "Little meister?" *He spoke to himself in shock, as more bits of his armour shattered off his body.*

  Rachael: *She felt down to her chest, noticing blood on her hands.* (My whole chest is hurting, but it feels numb at the same time-)

  Zazark: "I will kill you too! Why do you stand before my power? Fufufu."

  Karol: "The fact that I'm standing here, in fwont of my guild.. It means I will put my wife on the line!"

  Zazark: "Wife? Fufufufu, how pitiful-"

  Karol: "I don't whant your pity! So fight me with everwything you got!" *He sniffed with fear and pouted out his chest.*

  Rosemary: "Oh my?"

  Trevour: "Get out of the way now, little meister-"

  Karol: "Stahp! Naow!" *He glared at the ghastly figure standing in front of him.*

  Zazark: "Fufufu." *He took a step closer to Karol.*

  Champion: "Karol..." *She spoke to herself as she felt a dark bruise, which covered one side of her face.*

  Karol: *He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Trevour, as a tear ran down his face.* "I'ma man, and I'll pwotect yooh-"

  Zazark: "Fufufu." *He suddenly shot the metallic ball into Karol's chest, causing a piece of his shirt on his back to blow off.*

  Karol: "Kerh-...?" *He coughed out blood and slowly closed his eyes, collapsing onto his side.*

  Rachael: "No!"

  Trevour: "Little.."

  Nathan: "Karol!"

  Luna: "Fuck!"

  Destiny: "Yeup!" *She hissed in shock.*

  Champion: "Oh my?!"

  Lezard: "How dare he?!" *He covered his mouth in disgust.*

  Trevour: "Meister..." *He froze in shock, staring down in front of him.*

  Rachael: *She tried to move towards him.* (I can't move my legs right now-) *Her legs twitched.* (Move! Move! Move!)

  Nathan: *He stood up with Luna and ran towards Karol.* "Karol!"

  Zazark: *He watched Nathan and Luna run over to Karol with a smirk, as if he enjoyed the drama.* "Fufufu."

  Nathan: *He started to panic, holding Karol in his arms.* "He's not breathing!"

  Luna: "A-Ah..?" *She sounded shocked and bent down, feeling Karol's neck.* (Destiny?!)

  Destiny: (His heartbeat is slowing down.)

  Luna: (No!)

  Felipe: "Looks like the brat's Neurons are fading."

  Zazark: "Fufufufu." *He chuckled and observed the guild, as grief filled their faces.*

  Trevour: "Is it funny to you when someone is sad?!" *He shouted out of character and slowly stood back onto his feet.*

  Rosemary: *She observed her body.* (We might have been healed, but whatever was in those branches, absorbed a part of our life Neurons. It will take us a few moments to gain proper control over our basic bodily functions-)

  Trevour: *He frowned with watering eyes and uncontrollably twitched.* "I just realised.. I just understood what this guild means to me."

  Luna: "We gotta retreat, aye.."

  Nathan: "We're not retreating-"

  Trevour: "Not now, sir, madam." *He spoke with authority, causing Nathan and Luna to look at him.*

  Destiny: "Yeu?" *She stared at Trevour with curiosity, causing the purple rings to spiral around her eyes.* (The life Neurons inside his body.. They're spreading throughout every vein.)

  Luna: (Wat does that mean?)

  Destiny: (I.. Don't know-)

  Trevour: "During your life, you'll come to realise there is a purpose for everyone you meet. There will be those that test you, those that will use you, those that will teach you, those that will bring out suffering, and even those that will love you.."

  Luna: "Oi, Rusty, please." *Her eyes started to water, as if she was afraid for Trevour.*

  Champion: "Trevour! Please stand down!"

  Trevour: "But the most important ones, are the people that cry, not at you, or with you,
but for you." *He looked back and watched the guild holding back their tears.*

  *Trevour slowly looked back in front and formed fists, ignoring the rumbling ground underneath him.*

  Trevour: "So.. That's why..."

  Zazark: "There is nothing you can do-"

  Trevour: "That's why-" *He crossed his arms over his face, as an expanding brown glyph zigzagged across the entire shore.*

  Alan: "Huh?" *He looked down, staring at the glyph.*

  Felipe: "That's a pretty big glyph.. Probably mastered a low levelled sand Rostical."

  Rosemary: "Perhaps."

  Zazark: "Talk to me like that, warrior.. You will suffer!"

  Champion: (These Neuron levels, and this glyph-) *She watched the glyph levitate around Trevour and spiral up, creating a 3D-like glyph.*

  Lezard: "What's happening?"

  Champion: "When Grand Rostical creates multi-levelled platforms, it means it's being performed at the highest level imaginable." *She spoke in shock.*

  Zazark: *He glanced at the champion, causing him to stand in a battle-ready pose.* "Highest level? I won't allow you to-"

  Trevour: "Render it asunder, DESERT DRAGON" *He punched the ground and a massive volcanic-like eruption of sand blew up behind him, forming into a dragon spreading its wings.*

  Luna: "Shit-"

  Nathan: "Ah-"

  Destiny: "Yeup!-" *They were all pushed back, as a wave of sand blew them to one side.*

  Nathan: *He tightly held onto Karol, ignoring the waves of sand blowing in his face.*

  Zazark: *He looked up and stared at the dragon, noticing a dark hole which acted as an eye socket suddenly glow red.* "What-?"

  Trevour: *He looked down and stared at Zazark with determination.* "You will no longer hurt my family-"

  Zazark: "Hah!" *He flicked a stream of metallic liquid towards Trevour.*

  Trevour: *He stood on the spot, staring at the liquid with an emotionless face.* "...-"

  Alan: *The metallic liquid triggered a flashback of his copy getting hit by it.* "Get out of the way, Trevour!-"

  *A house-sized dragon arm shot out of the ground and violently punched Zazark off his feet.*

  Zazark: "Gah-" *He blasted through the air and suddenly slammed into a body of sand.*

  Nathan: *He watched the metallic liquid suddenly fall into the moving sand by Trevour's feet.* "What.. Is happening?"