Julia is cramming through every chemistry lesson and that pre-engineering class Drenar had dared her to take last year in mere seconds, trying to come up with a solution to get out of this foam she’s stuck in before she gets clawed, bitten in half, or simply burnt to cinders. Crosomer however, seems to be taking his time. “C’mon, I heard you kids were smart! Think outside the box!” he taunts.
“Is he seriously challenging us to MacGyver our way out of this?!” Angela roars while prying at the foam. “Julia, think, anything! Mechanical advantage, cutting edges, the chemical composition of the foam!”
“Working on it!” she snaps back while straining with all her might. This foam can crumble if compressed too far, but it’s taking too long. Think! If this is a foam made out of organic compounds, it must be some kind of polymer. Polymers break down when exposed to heat!
An idea comes to mind–she’s conducting some heavy-duty plasma, but only for brief charges. Could she channel it for a sustained period, and heat the foam stuck on her arm? And what was that going to do to her body in the process?
Oh, this is a really bad idea. She summons that spark of energy and focuses it along her arms, and winces–carrying the current does indeed sting a little. Meanwhile, a bigger problem is taking form, figuratively as much as literally.
Crosomer has sheathed his sword and taken a stance and looks intensely at Drenar, who is still fighting through the mass of energetic tethers and slowly tearing free of them. “Would you stop doing that? Who gave you a heavily enchanted dagger to cut through those, that’s cheating!”
“Hey jackass, this whole day has been me getting my ass tossed six different ways to Sunday by over-leveled thugs, I’ll take any advantage I can get! Might want to start running!” To emphasize the point, he heaves with all his might, and a few more energy tethers snap, and there are more than a few score marks on his scales that look painful. “I hope you’ve got more wizard tricks than this to slow me down!”
“Every idiot who gets overconfident tends to doom themselves Drenar, so do me a favor. Don’t.” Considering the position Angela found herself in, stuck in a motion-inhibiting foam, she still had time to snark at him.
“Nah, see, that’s the point! Gotta keep them on their toes, and force them into contingencies they’re not ready for! You realize this is the guy who ran a revolution and burned half the Conclave to the ground, right? Of course he has contingencies.”
“I’m sorry, did I miss something on the psychological profile I was forwarded? Is he cracked in the head?” Crosomer asks with annoyance.
“Stop metagaming the perilous situation, and bite the bastard in half!” Julia gets fed up and just powers through the pain of channeling dangerous levels of elemental plasma across her skin. Much to her amazement, the foam is starting to sizzle and is losing its rigidity. She can see it turning into a gel-like substance, and she feels her skin burning. Crosomer just gives her a seething glare of disapproval.
“Oh that’s a clever idea, DeVerdra, but that’s gotta hurt pretty badly. I was hoping to stretch this out a bit, but the current assessments of your talents are too far out of date. Consider this your final exam kids, It’s pass or die, by the way!” Crosomer’s flesh is rippling and the scales are darkening on his body. The dark-colored armor is merging with his body and his limbs are elongating, with sharp talons emerging on his hands and feet.
“Drenar, he’s got a dragon form, you’ve gotta cut those tethers right now!” Angela warns him, but there are far too many tethers left binding him in place. “Julia, plasma grapple the foam around me, keep melting it!”
She doesn’t hesitate and throws a grapple and lassoes around the bulk of the foam, and throws as much energy into it as she can. She’s starting to see the patterns in that feeling of using her abilities, feeling the burning sensation on her skin intensifying, but if she doesn’t break free of this foam right now, Crosomer will kill every single one of them without much effort. She’s screaming as much in fury as she is in pain, and there’s a burning sensation other than her skin searing on her arms. Probably due to her trying to force her just-awakened powers beyond safe limits, and she’s going to pay a price for this later–assuming she lives through this.
Crosomer is continuing to transform–he’s half-again as tall now, and those black, green, and blue feathered wings are emerging from his back, and he staggers to all fours–at least temporarily. The foam is crackling and melting back into a gel, and she feels it finally give, and she tears herself free! She staggers and focuses on getting Angela free, who points to Drenar.
“Get him free! Hurry!” She ignores the burnt skin that’s raw red and blistered on her arms, ignores the pain of the worst sunburn she’s ever had in her life and dashes over to Drenar. He slides the dagger to her with pitch-perfect precision. “Slash at the rune, it might disrupt the spell effect!”
As soon as her hand grabs the dagger, she hears a crystalline chime that almost sounds deafening to her, but there’s no time to question it. She slides feet-first underneath the maze of tendrils of energy, cutting them as she slides to the rune in the center, and slashes at the glowing symbols with the dagger. Sparks fly and the blade cuts a deep groove through the concrete and disrupts the runes.
How in the hell is this cutting through concrete?! She drives the blade through more of the symbols, and the runes instantly lose their luster, flicker, and die completely. The energy bindings snap apart in a series of white sparks that sting her skin and she covers herself from the falling hot remnants. Drenar nearly topples from the lack of resistance since he's been trying to snap them with tension. He looks fatigued and in pain from the burning lassos, but he's still got his eyes fixed on Julia.
“The baka-tsundere team does it again! Ow. I think I might have crisped myself,” Julia manages to get out.
“Use that last potion, and hold onto the dagger. I'm gonna deal with this feathered freak of nature,” Drenar assures her. Crosomer in the meantime has asserted his full form as an Alterian Nightwing, and he's three meters of claws, wings, and outright deadliness. “Get Angela out, get Nick on the radio, and tell him things have gone to hell.”
“Oh? Think you can take me on, kid?” Crosomer rakes his claws on a wall as if testing their sharpness. “Well, take your–”
Drenar doesn't wait for him to finish his taunt, because he springs forward and closes the distance in half a second and slams into him, and pins him against the wall, which creaks and cracks audibly. Drenar is no novice and knows how to fight unarmed, and he is busy making Crosomer feel a whole lot of pain with body blows, raking cuts that narrowly penetrate the scales, and keeping him off balance. Some of those moves Julia had taught him through layers of sheer pain.
“Julia, don't stay there, get Angela and find backup! This is a heavyweight fight now!” Drenar barks out, and holds Crosomer at bay when he seizes an opportunity to throw him to the ground. “Get going, stick to the plan!”
“Don't you dare get killed, Drenar!” She peels herself off the floor and with a few staggered steps, closes to cut Angela out of the foam effortlessly with the dagger. With enough of it shredded, she pulls free and supports Julia's weight as they stagger to the doorway. She really doesn't feel great at all, and that burning fatigue is present in her chest and arms. “I think I overdid it.”
“Overdid it? holy crap, Julia, that was the most badass thing I think I've ever seen!” Angela kicks the door open and they dash out of the warehouse to the sound of roars, and Drenar holding Crosomer at bay, and the sound of wrenching metal and cracking concrete.
“Surrender you one note villain! Or I'll keep beating you bloody!”
“Gods this brings me back, kid! It's almost a little nostalgic!” Julia's too preoccupied with her burning agony to look back, and Angela is migrating them to the far side of some utility buildings, chilled by the rainstorm. “On that note, why is it you have those uncanny green eyes?”
*Crack* *thud*
“You flirting or fighting with me?”
“It was an innocent question, Alex had blue eyes like a glacier. I assure you even after seven hundred years on hiatus, I still prefer the fairer gender!”
“The hell are they doing?!” Angela asks incredulously.
“Bantering while fighting. Pretty sure we passed our final exam, and he's still testing Drenar to get his full combat–augh, the arms, Angie!” Julia gasps in pain when Angela grabs her blistered arm to keep her from tripping over the uneven ground.
“Okay, it’s definitely time to use that potion. Fates, Julia, how are you enduring that?” Julia uses a shaky hand to grab the last vial of that blue fluid, and she takes the topper off to drink half of it, then has Angela gently spread the rest on the wounds.
That pain she felt before is twice as bad when it contacts the blistered skin, and she doubles over, clenching her teeth and trying not to scream. It feels like dozens of wasp stings, inside and out, even as the injuries scabbed over and the skin regrows over the raw wounds. Watching it is as mesmerizing as it is horrifying, and she leans up against the utility building side, willing herself to control her breath in sharp, timed inhales and exhales.
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“Yeesh. Guess magical healing still has pain involved in the process,” Angela grimaces, and looks at the injury on her arm. The bleeding has stopped, much to both of their relief. “Can you move?”
“No.” This has to be the worst pain she has felt in a long time. Or ever. “I just gave myself second-degree burns trying to get that foam off, Angela. I literally can hurt myself using that ability like that, and there's a burning pain inside.”
“Crosomer wasn't kidding, that was mana burn, probably.” Angela looks back to the warehouse, where the fight is still going. “Crap, too bad we don't have any weapons, except for Drenar's dagger. And this sword. A rocket launcher might be nice to have against a dragon.” Julia glances down at the weapon she’d tucked away. A thought instantly resonates.
“I cut through concrete with it.” She pulls it out of the sheath, and the metal practically gleans with its own light. No. There is a light here–she stops and focuses on the handle. There is a small symbol of bare etches in the cross guard, and it is glowing faintly with blue light. “Uh, Angie, why's his dagger glowing?”
“Is Drenar keeping secrets from us?” she asks hesitantly. She's still breathing heavily from the exertion.
“Drenar sucks at lying, there's no way he could have kept this secret,” Julia counters.
“Forget it, we need to radio Nick, we are finally in over our heads.” Julia hands her the headset and Angela clicks the transmit button. “James, Nick, Evan, we’re topside again, please respond. We need backup. Like now.”
A rumble of thunder is their response. “Ah, great. Nick got so pissed at us, he abandoned us to our fate. Lovely.”
“Guys! Guys! Holy crap I'm glad you're alive, but Nick is gonna kill you three!” There's an immense anxiety in James' tone through the crackle of the radio, along with a low swooshing sound. “Where the hell are you guys?”
“Far side of the Mount Syren Mine, they hollowed out the whole mountain, we have a ton of evidence, and fought through a dozen talons soldiers, and started a cave-in. Also, the formerly dead rebellion leader Robespierre Crosomer is back, and Drenar is man-fighting…um…dragon fighting him at the moment?” Angela sums up the intense day, and James spends a good five seconds before he responds.
“So what you're saying is, this is Drenar's fault?”
“Yep, pretty much. Um, what is that loud sound on your end?” she asks cautiously. “It sounds like you're in a wind tunnel.”
“I'm flying on a goddamn dragon, and I'm so terrified for dear life I've circled right back to tranquil calm. Also, Nick is a dragon, so whoever made that bet, be sure to collect your winnings,” James says with an unnatural calm. Julia and Angela stare at each other.
“What?!”
“Yeah, way to just breeze through that like it's no big deal,” Nick utters with straining breath. It's a rougher tone from him, but still recognizable. “I'm a dragon, or, well, half, and you now both vow to a life of absolute secrecy, starting from now! Welcome to the Veil! Also when I get to you three and am done bailing you out, there's gonna be words. They aren't going to be sugar-coated, either.”
“Oh no you don't, you overgrown iguana with wings!” Angela snaps as she responds in perhaps the most unrestrained way Julia has heard in a while. “You know who broke Awakening? Crosomer did! We're lab rats–um, lab lizards? The point is, we were screwed before you ever showed up on the scene, Detective Gorbash!” Nick let out an audible sigh among the whoosh of beating wings.
“You know, I'm not the bad guy here. Also, where is Drenar?”
“Fighting the giant Alterian Nightwing you dunce!” she screams out in utter anger. “He needs backup and he needs it now, Julia and I are too beaten up and way too small to take on a full adult dragon by ourselves!”
“I'm gonna die, aren't I?” James utters with dread.
“No, you're going to take my anti-material rifle from that dimensional armory case and plug the bastard full of holes from a distance, while I do the fighting. Try not to hit me.” Julia glances at Angela with a grin, and Angela hands her the headset.
“Hey, Nick. Do you know who’s a better shot than that anemic mayfly you've got as a plus one? Me.”
“Have you ever fired a Barrett M82A1? Because this one isn't factory stock,” Nick warns her.
“Here's a hint, if you ever have the notion to win my heart, bring guns. Rare, reliable, dragon-killing guns.”
“Don’t take it the wrong way, but you're a little young for me, Julia. I will, however, entertain the joint venture of a visit to the gun range. Where's Drenar right now, we’re almost at the far side–”
There's a spectacular sound of a massive impact and the pulverizing of concrete and a screech of metal cladding. Crosomer has been flung clear of the warehouse through a giant hole in the siding through immense force, and he's grinning despite the pain. “Now there's the telekinetics! See? Gotta use all those abilities to maximum potency!”
“Come back here, you scaly bitch, and take your beating like a man–er, a dragon! That's gonna take some getting used to!” Drenar roars as he clears the building. He's cut up and bleeding lightly, but in far better shape than Julia had expected. “Serves you right for underestimating us!”
“Please, this is still amateur hour. That barely hurt.” Julia just glares daggers at Crosomer, who has already righted himself and looks like he’s taking a deep inhale.
“Fire belch, get out of the way!” Julia screams out. Drenar must have known it was coming because he doesn’t evade. He leaps and lands a crushing uppercut on Crosomer’s jaw, and she can almost hear the bones creak, even from this distance. Crosomer coughs and chokes on black fumes, and the pending barbeque of Drenar’s scaly hide is interrupted. He doesn’t let up, either. Even as a novice in his own body, he’s taking Crosomer to task and beating the ever-loving hell of him with well-placed strikes of his closed claws, knees, and a couple kicks. Even the wings get a workout for quick strikes. And then they somehow manage to stumble their fight back into the warehouse.
“This is such a cathartic moment, isn’t it?” Angela says beside her. “Finally we aren’t outgunned!”
“No, but I am feeling like utter crap at the moment,” Julia groans. That burning sensation inside of her is still present but fading. There are dark blue and black marks on her arms, and a few leading from her somewhat shredded jacket, up to her neck. “C’mon, we need to get to higher ground, I’m going to take Nick’s rifle and blast that son of a bitch with .50 caliber armor-piercing goodness.”
“Are we sure that’s a high enough caliber to punch through dragon scales? I was thinking more like rockets. Or an automatic grenade launcher,” she growls.
“Crosomer’s arcane barrier is still up, even with Drenar throwing him a beating. It’s just softening the blows to prevent heavy injury.” Julia’s tacit assessment is accurate because it doesn’t appear he’s got any major injuries. “We need to pop that arcane barrier. Nick, Crosomer has got some heavy-duty magical barrier, do you have any firearm solutions to that?”
“The rifle I mentioned earlier has mana-coated munitions and armor-penetrating cores, It should put an immense strain on the barrier. When you do get a chance to line up, keep firing, and group your shots, there's no way around those barriers like a rapid-fire barrage!” There's a brief pause, and she can hear the flap of wings through the clouds. “James, I see them, I'm dropping you off and going to engage with the newcomer! Julia, are you guys badly hurt?”
“I think I'm mana burned pretty bad, I did something really desperate,” she relays to him.
“James, alchemical kit, the one with the label ‘Hydroxyl Metazine.’ Get that to her the second you touch down, it should reverse the effect to an extent.” That sound of flapping wings comes through the low cloud cover and rainfall, and Julia looks up in awe.
“Holy flipping Pete's dragon,” she breathes when she sees their backup. Nick’s form is completely different than Drenar or Crosomer, he's a…Hinterland green? His body is much more lithe and ripples with muscle, his scales are verdant and bright, and his tail is longer, covered in green feathers, with blonde feathers on his cheeks, scalp, and arms. He flares his wings and lands with grace beside them, and James is saddled in, looking like he's having the worst day of his life.
“Don't judge me. I might have peed myself. And I will never fly again,” he says in a remarkably quiet tone. He hops off the harness and grabs a weapon case and satchel, and his legs are shaky. Nick glances at Angela.
“Angela, that cut is bad, take one of the blue vials, regen potion. I'll go help Drenar.” He doesn't wait for an answer and springs forward on his powerful legs, all the while Drenar and Crosomer are trading blows distantly. James is already handing a vial to Julia, and she doesn't even question it this time.
She nearly retches from the overwhelming mint flavor. “Gods, why'd it have to be peppermint?” she manages to keep it down, and she feels a crackling feeling inside, and a cooling relief permeates her body. The black and blue lines that had marked her skin faded somewhat. “Ah, that feels better,” she breathes with a sigh of relief.
“You guys look like absolute crap, what the hell happened?” James asks.
“That guy happened.” She points to Crosomer distantly. “Now give me my damn firearm, James,” she growls. He gingerly hands her the massive case, and she throws it open without effort.
Oh, Nick, you do know a way to my heart. Sitting in the case is the massive profile of the anti-material rifle with its distinct shape, and two magazines already loaded with .50 caliber rounds. Each one is massive, and the rounds glow with a light blue aura.
“You know how to use that?” Angela asks warily before Julia picks up the massive rifle. It’s heavy and meant for fixed position firing due to its weight, and intended for extreme distance. It is heavily modified, and gleams of blue light trace the barrel. She grabs one magazine, slaps it into position, and makes sure it's seated before giving a massive tug on the charging handle.
“Oh, absolutely.” She sights down the rifle scope, and notes the scope contains the hand-operated zoom for rapid changes in magnification. “You guys, go find a shady spot. Time to go hunting.”