I told the dragon to head towards New Earth One with the assumption that the other mecha dragons soon would be arriving, if not already there. Except, as before, the dragon we rode had no sense of direction, nor did it truly comprehend where it was to go; we sat upon its back, hoping for the best.

"Cole," said Cleetus with a pondering look on his face, "just how much snow are these Uranus/Boom-Boom hybrids going to have to consume to produce enough sulfuric acid urine to fight metal fire-breathing dragons? Will they have enough time?"

"I mean..." I trailed off, because I didn't know how to reply.

"And, not to be nasty, but can these cat hybrids, like, shoot their urine, or are the dragons going to have to get really close to them?"

"Look, let's just focus on getting the dragons away from the human settlement and to the polar ice caps," I answered, "at least then we know humanity is safe for the time being."

On the horizon I saw the outskirts of New Earth One. Unfortunately, there was a noticeable orange glow to it.

"Oh no," I muttered as we approached.

"Are we too late?" grimly asked Cleetus. He looked at me.

"We...we came as soon as we could..." the guilt that had just been lifted in my confessing to accidentally blowing up Earth now was returning- was I again to be connected to the end of so many human lives?

The weight got heavier the closer we got- the city was most definitely on fire.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Cleetus cursed, "so what, that's it? Humanity is no more?!"

Things did look pretty grim.

But then, I spied a familiar vehicle among the flames.

"Hey, that's Laurence's jeep!" I exclaimed, pointing.

"Is that them?" Cleetus pointed a few feet besides the jeep to a couple of figures running and waving their arms towards us, "is it Laurence and Detective LaLouf?" Incidentally, they must have gotten out through the hole our exit on the dragon had made and gotten back to the settlement.

"COLE! CLEETUS!" LaLouf called out, "DID YOU GET WATER?! THE DRAGONS ARE NEARBY!"

"WE'VE WARNED AND GOTTEN MOST PEOPLE INTO THE RED HILLS TO THE SOUTH BEFORE THE FIRES STARTED," added her husband, "BUT IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE MECHA DRAGONS FIND US AND HUNT US LIKE THE APEX PREDATORS THEY ARE !"

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"WHERE'S THE WATER?" yelled LaLouf, a bit more forceful.

"WE HAVE ANOTHER PLAN," I called down, "WHAT DIRECTIONS DID THE DRAGONS GO?"

"WHAT OTHER PLAN?" the detective answered, "I THOUGHT MELTING THE POLAR ICE CAPS WAS THE ONLY OPTION!"

"WE'RE GOING TO HAVE WEIRD UNEXPECTED CAT-ALIEN HYBRIDS PEE ON THEM UNTIL THEY'RE CORRODED," replied Cleetus, his tone not sounding any less monotone than usual, "BUT THESE CAT THINGS CAN'T LEAVE THE COLD SO WE'LL GET THE DRAGONS TO FOLLOW."

"...EXCUSE ME, BUT WHAT THE FUCK? THAT'S THE NEW PLAN?"

"IS THIS...SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE?" questioned Laurence, "AND CAN CAT-ALIENS URINATE ENOUGH TO REALLY CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE?"

"THEY'RE EATING AS MUCH SNOW AS THEY CAN RIGHT NOW," I assured the couple, "I HAVE HIGH HOPES THIS WILL WORK."

Though Detective LaLouf was at a distance, I could make out the look of disbelief on her face. "...AND DID YOU TWO BANG YOUR HEADS TOGETHER JUST BEFORE YOU CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA ? WHY DIDN'T YOU GET THE WATER LIKE WE DISCUSSED?"

Before either Cleetus or I could reply, we saw them approaching- large, flying figures quickly rushing back towards the remains of the city.

"YOU AND LAURENCE NEED TO HIDE," called Cleetus frantically to the married pair below.

"Dragon," I commanded, "make noise! Tell the other dragons to follow you!"

As instructed, the dragon let out a series of roars that I can only assume were communication. The other mecha dragons seemed to approach it but when they saw Cleetus and I on its back froze.

"Do...do you think they're confused?" Cleetus asked me.

We didn't have time to ponder long. The other dragons quickly roared angry-sounding roars and charged us, fire shooting out of their mouths. They incidentally were not happy to see us riding and commandeering one of their own kind.

"Oh shit!" Cleetus jumped back, "we gotta go!"

"Dragon! Head back to the cat-things at the polar ice caps!" I ordered. The dragon quickly turned and took off, all of us barely missing a wave of flame.

"We're not gonna make it!" stated Cleetus looking behind us, "there's literally a wave of fire pursuing us!"

"But they all are following, yes?" I asked, trying to stay focused on the plan.

"Oh, yeah, they're all following. And they're all super pissed."

"Dragon, go faster!" As I gave the order the dragon blinked, picking up speed. We were a safe distance ahead of the rest of the pack but still close enough that they could see us to keep coming.

"Just have to stay ahead long enough to get back to the polar ice caps," I stated, "and then the Boom-Boom bloom can take over."

"Can the cats jump as high as we're flying?" questioned Cleetus, "I really think we need to be flying lower to give the cat-aliens a realistic shot of peeing on these dragons."

I shrugged. "You know as much as I know about the cat-alien hybrids. Which is to say...fuck all."

"Jesus, they're all following and are spewing flames everywhere," remarked Cleetus, staring at the trail of mecha dragons. "I really can't see us getting out of this unless those cats can piss like pressure washers at them."

"They assured us they'd be eating a lot if snow," I answered optimistically, "they'll be fully loaded with sulphuric acid. It's our best hope."

Cleetus didn't reply, but kept his eyes on the enemy. "I really, really hope they're eating a lot of snow," he softly said.

"I'm sure they are."

"I mean, like, a lot."

"I'm sure they are," I repeated, trying to sound confident.

There was a silence for a moment.

"We're probably super fucked, aren't we," Cleetus finally stated.

"We gotta believe in the power of pee," I replied. It was the only chance at a future I could see.