Tourist Trap

Deimos felt his heart drop out into his stomach at the assertion he could be shot for this. However, it took a second for him to realize that was a joke...probably. Please be a joke.

“They’re not my friends. They’re my parent’s friend’s kids. I was supposed to be babysitting them, but I suppose Taro Tea isn’t supposed to smell faintly of a narcotic cocktail, is it?”

Deimos shakes his head, holding down the anger he held in the moment. What would they had done if they accidentally killed him? They gave him both an upper and a downer and that was only the immediate drugs Deimos could remember the smell of off the top of his head. He felt stupid for not recognizing the smell was in the tea and wasn’t radiating of the drug dealing yuppie.

As Dragon Girl and Ranah get situated, Deimos choses to transform on the balcony to avoid taking the ceiling off the place. Just as the liquid shadows form to scales, Deimos folds his wings against his back, clinging to the relatively tiny ledge.

His horn-crowned head watched in mild alarm as Dragon Girl seemed content with casually smiling at gravity’s demands and laughing in the concrete’s face as she landed. He gives a low, rumbling trill, armored fans twitching against the pulse point in his throat. Deimos’s wings spread, pulling him into the air with a gentle leap off the ledge. His wingspan was massive in comparison to the width of his body, making flight both silent and easy as his wings swallowed the air beneath them.

He soars up a bit higher and stops, secondary wingset descending to take the weight off him as he hovered. When the main set was down, the secondary was up and vice versa, giving him the extra thrust he needed to stay aloft.  He follows Dragon Girl, secondary wingset tucking up under his main wings as a soared somewhat leisurely behind her, only having to beat his wings every so often once they caught the wind beneath them.

However, the sights filled him with rage. Tanks and automatic weapons against unarmed civilians? That was hardly fair at all. The dragon lets out a low trill to his companions, rumbling like a deep growl behind his heart. A rumble of war as the scales along his back begin to glow in a cascade.

With that he climbs, disappearing into the clouds above in an instant… and all was quiet for what seemed like hours.

In an instant the clouds parted, giving way to a dragon in full dive right above the APC, so quickly he was upon them before it could get it’s turret up at him. His spine alight and jaws crackling with so much energy it streaked the sky behind him as his wings snap out to catch him. He stops only ten feet above the APC, opening his jaw and unleashing a azure torrent of starfire onto the military vehicle, so bright it lit up like a second sun in the dim morning light. It took mere seconds for the APC to split, tires and screws flying in every direction as Deimos moves down the line to each subsequent tank. His aim swerved around civilian vehicles, but veered back into tanks and APCS well enough. The longer the beam of blinding light lasted, the faster it seemed to sear through tanks until it faded. An entire streets worth of tanks, seared through in half as Deimos ascends into the sky once more, silently, gone.

Deimos chooses to be satisfied with the panic he’d caused rather than risk another dive. Besides, he needed to recharge before doing it again and it was still daylight, so that could take some time. He soars back, just ahead of Dragon Girl, soaring a bit lower below the clouds, giving a snort of air and drifting back up into the clouds, choosing to remain more hidden in their cover after having just obliterated around six vehicles and leaving military ranks scrambling in case he returned.

ON THE GROUND

The soldiers on the ground meanwhile, moved rather drearily through the streets. It was morning now, the hot sun beating down on them while their commanding officers rode in the air-conditioned tanks. One man in the column shouted and pointed to the sky, but it was too little too late; the tank’s weapons could not be brought to bear in time against Deimos, while only sparse small arms firing wildly into the sky was all they could muster.

The soldiers, the boots on the ground screamed and shouted to scatter, a move few objected to. The soldiers were quick to drop their weapons and flee rather than stand and fight, scattering into the crowds they were sent to oppress. As APC’s and tanks exploded, only a single half burnt man escaped, still carrying a radio.

The man sat against the burnt out remains of his tank. He turned on his communicator. “I have urgent news for the Grand General!”

AT THE MILITARY HQ

The Grand General sat at the head of the great Parliament table, a young lady in a uniform serving him some tea and sweets. He began pouring himself some, while smiling at the young lady. Then a messenger quickly arrived to interrupt, saluting then whispering in his ear. His expression immediately went from calm to hysterical. “01! 02!” He called out. Two figures approached the great Parliament table.

“It seems someone is interfering with our righteous revolution. 01. You are here to defend communism, correct? The westernized devils have a dragon.” He asked him, his voice and rhetoric filled with a crazed belief.

01 and 02 were larger specimens who towered over the General and the Jagar military around them. 01 was a 9-foot-tall giant of a man, truly inhuman proportions. 02 was only slightly smaller, but cut an impressive feminine figure as well. 01’s arms and legs were larger than tree trunks, and his chest was wider than most men were tall. He almost seemed to be bursting from his black uniform.

“Nothing… must stand… in the way of communism…” He muttered, almost unsure of what to say.

“Very well. 01. You deal with this new arrival. This… dragon. 02, you stay and protect me, ah, protect the palace.” The two nod.

When the order was given, 01 turned around and walked to the exit, each step a heavy thud on the palace tiles. The military personnel present watched him nervously; his enormous hands could crush a man’s head… and they usually did. While he certainly told himself he controlled these clones, the presence of the giant made the General doubt that ‘fact’. He looked at the giant as he left, then around at his dumbfounded staff.

“Back to work! We cannot fail in our sacred mission!” He shouted, and the staff went back to whatever they were busy with.  

IN THE AIR, JUST ABOVE THE CROWNE ROSE

The attack on the military, being the evil oppressors, they were, would not go unnoticed. Dragon Girl was in the middle of her third jump when she realized Deimos had gone off course to go intervene on the ground, and when she did, she stopped and floated midair to regain her bearings and find her allies.
Ranah just looked at DG, seeing her capabilities expanding far beyond what was usually ‘advertised’ by South Korean TV. “…How do you…” She started, but changed her mind when Deimos finally rejoined them. He had done quite a number on a column of armored vehicles. A very loud and explodey number using atomic breath that left an entire street on fire.

“That was… You didn’t have to… you could’ve…. Sigh, this is going to attract attention.” Dragon Girl started to talk about discreet action but let out a sigh, and if it weren’t for her incognito mode, her disappointment would be seen on her face. “Anyway, we’re here.” She pointed down, the manicured garden of the hotel standing out from the squalor outside its walls.

((677))

Deimos couldn’t help but feel a little proud of the carnage behind him. He sent ranks of soldiers scattering away like rats off a sinking ship. However, the mild scolding from Dragon Girl did put a damper on his gusto.

The courtyard of the hotel seemed devoid of people, save for a small group in the center, staring up into the clouds. Deimos lands and two of the people rush to him, an old man and woman. The woman was crying tears of worry only a mother could muster and the man, although more emotionally reserved, wasted no time checking Deimos over to insure he wasn’t injured.

Meanwhile Deimos’s mother just held him, arms around his snout in the best kind of hug she could manage. Reptilian eyes close in her comforting arms and if a dragon could smile, he was.

‘Deimos, we were worried sick, you alright, you didn’t get caught up in all this mess did you?’ The woman blurts, checking everywhere to convince herself her son was unharmed.

She was a tiny woman, her once black hair, more grey with age. She was just barely over five foot tall and had her hair pulled back into a low bun and a scarf wrapped around her head. She smelt of potting soil and fresh baked bread, and a face that exudes motherly love. Meanwhile, Deimos’s father was a tall and slim old man, his face weathered from both age and a life of hard work. He was bald beneath his ball cap, wearing a thin long sleeve shirt and regular jeans he must have worn every day of his life.

Deimos responds in a language similar to the one he’d cast spells with, however as his current form allowed the pronunciation to be more accurate. The draconic language was easier to speak with a dragon’s hard palette and forked tongue than it was on the human anatomy. He did however motion his head toward Dragon Girl and refer to her as ‘Drakka’ and Ranah as ‘Drakelette’.

‘Son, Have you seen Emmet and Jason?” Deimos’s father, Ed, suddenly asks.
The dragon’s head raises, fans rattling against his throat in annoyance at the mention of their names, but then he sees Charlie… a tall and mousy looking kid near the other group of geriatric individuals… and boy did he look sheepish. He refused to look at the dragon and dug the toe of his boot into the dirt as if he were trying to hide in his own skin.

Deimos’s eyes raise to Charlie and he lets out a low growl and escalates into an angry trill.

“Okay okay, I’m sorry! They got arrested!” The kid suddenly breaks under the pressure of the dragon’s intimidating gaze. “I was hoping when Deimos came back he’d have busted them out by now but… I’m sorry!” Charlie explodes, opening his phone with the passcode, handing it to what must have been his father and running back into the hotel.

The ridge over Deimos’s eyes harden into a light scowl as he lowers his head again to view what the old man was looking at. Three punk kids throwing moltovs and rocks at the soldiers, behaving as if they were impervious to harm… and then getting bombarded and cuffed.

The dragon turns to Dragon Girl and Ranah as he snorts. As if he were asking for help with this.

Meanwhile, Deimos’s mother, satisfied that her boy truly wasn’t hurt, moves on to greet Dragon Girl and Ranah in a fashion that may suggest she knew them her whole life. “Oh thank you for keeping my boy safe, I don’t know how I could ever repay you, I’m Kathy, This is Ed, And You’ve met Deimos.”
Meanwhile, Deimos’s fans had dropped, expression softening as his mother proceeded to be incredibly embarrassing. Kathy was all hugs and Ed was just content with a firm handshake.

CROWNE ROSE

As they’d arrived, they were welcomed by an elderly couple, who showed themselves to be Deimos’s parents. Several other guests came out to see the arrival of the heroes, chattering among themselves about the situation.

“…What’s going on? Are the communists really taking over?”


“Look dear, superheroes!”

“…We have superheroes at home, nothing we haven’t seen before.”

“Will our tour be cancelled today then?”

Even as she tried to calm the guests and staff that came to speak with them, Ranah frowned at this Charlie fellow. He and his friends had caused Deimos trouble, and their other friends acted belligerently as to be arrested. “If your American friends caused trouble, they’ll likely have been detained and caned by now. Weren’t you all briefed on the plane about our country?” she asked disappointed at the tourists who thought they could do whatever they want.

Dragon Girl’s stern demeanor softened for Deimos’s parents. They were sweet, and she reciprocated, showing her face. Via transparent helmet. “…It’s nice to meet you both too. Uh, it’s not safe to be around here right now. Is it alright if I asked you to…”

It was then Dragon Girl’s device sounded an alarm, but it was a bit late; the thing she’d been warned about arrived very quickly. A giant of a man who floated above them like a vengeful angel or demigod. He removed his helm.

June wasted no time giving her allies a play by play. “Ranah. You take these people away from here. Now. Keep Deimos’s parents safe.” Dragon Girl then addressed Deimos. “Hey. You still here? This is the 01. He’s tough. Really tough.”

The local hero looked up at the 01 clone, and found herself filled with dread. It seemed like his arm was bigger than her, his hands were bigger than her head, and he was so ripped it was like his moustache had muscles. He was bald, with two patches of white hair standing on end, like that one character from that one fighting game. His right eye was glazed over, a scar covering his face. Was this really a clone?

“…Everyone come with me, we’re going to the park.” Ranah addressed all the people, and with the staff cooperating they moved the crowd away from the Crowne Rose’s premises.

01 stayed floating there for tense moments. Would he make a move? Or would June or Deimos make a pre-emptive strike? “You. I know you.” He said, as recognition crossed his face.

Dragon Girl cursed in Korean. “…these are a very talkative batch of clones.” She remarked.

((447))

Oh they’d been told the rules of the country on the plane ride here, alright. Emmet and James were busy getting plastered on airline vodka and Charlie was crossfaded before they even got on the plane so the debriefing kind of went over their heads.

He’d have to hope and pray they were just sitting in a prison… quietly. And not shot yet. Perhaps they were too busy with their hostile takeover to kill two dumbass teenagers.

Ed and Kathy seemed to have a million questions about Dragon Girl… well mainly Kathy. Kathy seemed content to chatter all day if she were allowed to. However, the alarm Dragon Girl showed at the incoming man had Ed trying to lead his wife away under the protection of Deimos’s wing. They were happy to do as Ranah and Dragon Girl suggested and leave the fighting to those better equipped for it and stashing themselves out of the way. Deimos nudges them both on with his snout as they follow Ranah quietly.

Meanwhile Deimos perks to Dragon Girl’s commands, eyes meeting the vengeful giant. He gives a loud hiss, his war fans rattling against the scales on his throat as he swings his tail into the dirt. The scales along his spine still pulsated, indicating he couldn’t blast 01 right off the bat. He felt the glands of oil in his throat pulse with the desire to burn him alive in fire and blood.

However, he thinks back to his wise idea to absolutely immolate 6 tanks and APCs and Junes disapproval. He glances to Dragon Girl, giving a snort before attempting to reach out with his mind to her. If she was a dragon, this should do something, right? He’d never gotten the chance to attempt this before so he may as well try now.

Deimos tried to send a picture, like a dragonelle to her hatchlings. This picture would be the suggestion of Deimos flying up into the mans face and pelting him with fire and June using the cover to close in and beat the hell out of him with her fists of fury. Even if the picture managed to make it’s way over to June’s mind, it would be incredibly fuzzy at best due to Deimos’s complete inexperience communicating with other dragons.

Meanwhile, Deimos pulls himself into a defensive stance, holding his belly to the ground and his wings tucked tight against his side. His tail swings slowly to be ready to catch something incoming. His lower jaw held somewhat open like a crocodile waiting for prey. He shakes his crown of horns, waiting on either June or 01 to make the first move so he could follow up.

Dragon Girl picked up on Deimos’s telepathic. She shook her head in a negative, not knowing how to communicate back at all. Instead she gestured to the ear, pointing to it a few times. “He has a sensitive inner ear system that lets-”

The fact that they were discussing his weakness only aggravated 01. “You… drowned me! Killed me. In the OOOCEAAAANNNN!” Anger crept up on 01’s face, a rage replacing the vacant stare of the clone. Like a thunderbolt, he launches himself from the sky and strikes Dragon Girl first, both of them obliterating the fountain upon impact. They trade blows at high speed, before DG delivers a mighty kick to his knees as a meaty fist connects with June’s raised cross block, sending her flying again into the hotel.

01 turns towards Deimos. He clutched his knee momentarily, before roaring again with anger. “Dragons! I HATE DRAGONS!” He roared, and flew at him, spinning as he went as if performer a Psycho Crusher. To his face! If he could not defend himself well enough, 01 would deliver a similar beatdown!

((185))

Shit, June. Drowning had to suck. Deimos assumed if Dragon Girl had killed someone, they must have deserved it. However, the sensitive inner ear bit had Deimos thinking. He had an idea, but no real way to communicate it. Those mind pictures weren’t easy for a rusty dragon. However, the face that she saw it fed him a little information with more questions.

It confirmed the suspicion she had dragon ancestry, that further begged the question if they were related as this worked better between those who were family.

He would have to ask later, for now the muscley man of the sky wanted to fight.

He didn’t have any real way of intervening between Dragon Girl and 01, however once this mustachioed man decided to come at Deimos’s face, the real fun began.

Deimos’s head ducks down even lower into the ground, hind legs coming up and swinging his tail forward, hard. Right where his head was a few seconds earlier a three foot thagomizer swiped it.

Deimos gives a loud, high pitched and trilling roar, fans continuing to rattle as he whips his tail back, bloody from losing a thagomizer on the impact. He still had three more, but damn did that hurt.
Sadly a side swipe wasn’t stopping such a strong mustache, Moving his head down sent that psycho crusher right into the bony ridge above his eye, knocking off a bit of dragon scale with a clatter on the pavement. A few inches lower it’d have blinded him.Lucky for him his skull was meant to take an impact, even if it did earn a pained whine from him.

He swipes up with his horns, trying to impail 01 on them, while not completely lifting his head. Last thing he wanted was to expose his jaw. Then the thick sweet smell of dragon oil… and the searing heat of dragon fire follows as he unleashes a torrent forward to bathe his opponent in flames for a brief moment, as to conserve his resources for now.

01 tanked the flaming breath, but rather than have his skin seared off, it seemed more like a moderate sunburn. "RAAAARGH! I'LL NOT BE DENIED MY KILL!" for the price of striking him he lashed out in retaliation against Deimos, swinging wildly with hammer fists to get a good hit in. The slayer king would answer each blow.

The battle takes a turn though as a waterline erupted from under Deimos, blasting him with frigid water. Another clone had arrived on scene, hidden by the fog that materialized around them, a mundane but effective way to break line of sight. Trying to Disorient him, 05 the “Aquatic” attacked Deimos with stone crushing, high pressure water streams. The battle was now even, number wise.

June took a few moments to recollect herself, her jaw and face sore from the blow of the war god. There were few times that compelled her to transform, but against this one it was very unwise. She swallowed her rage and focused herself, and made her way back to the fight. She’d been thrown into the hotel, and made quite a few holes in the wall.

((192))

Fire had worked somewhat. Sure he was just a little red, but it was more damage than nothing. He blasts fire down, harder, pouring more oil into it to get a more intense burn. He was doing respectively at defending himself against the hits and taking them to areas meant for impact absorption, mainly down the center of his skull.

Each punch was answered with a bite, a ram, a blast of fire or a swipe with his claws. However, the sudden blast of frigid water caught him incredibly off guard. A sudden drop in body temperature, visibly slows Deimos’s reaction speed. He managed to tank a few more hits from 01 before he just couldn’t keep up with it.

A loud screech of pain echoes from the courtyard as a first slams home past Deimos’s neck. It cracks down into the joint where his left front leg met his shoulder with a painful pop of bone. Dragon scale scatters and blood spills into the ground as he lowers his wing to cover it from the painful torrenting of high pressure water.

Deimos couldn’t put weight on his leg and it visibly affected how he was holding himself, but by now his scales had stopped flashing. Energy cracked around him as he suddenly bows up, enraged it seems. Light cascading from tail, to spine, to his throat with a low trill.

He lets go of the energy through his throat, and rather than fire, he blasts his atomic ray right into 01 at point blank range. He planned on holding it there as long as he could. The radiation was strong, he only hoped either it was strong enough to hurt him, or that the deafening whirr of neutrons splitting would mess with his ears like June had suggested.

Deimos was still being pelted with water, but dammit he couldn’t focus on that, or his broken shoulder. He’d have to do something about 01 before he broke something else.

The situation had changed when June couldn’t see a blasted thing thanks to a fog generated by 04. The aquatic hydrokinetic wasn’t much trouble, but supporting 01 meant the situation was incredibly dangerous now. There was little choice but to go dragon, and hopefully the hotel had insurance. Her outfit sensed the transformation and retreated as to avoid wardrobe failure, and the hotel suffered the brunt of the change.

01 growled in pain as the breath also was saddled with an ear splitting noise that affected his inner ear, making him bleed from the sensory organ and also grounding him. This ensured no more flying muscle smashing things apart. The atomic breath was cut short when 04 made a massive ice wall to block it, three layers thick to compensate for how quickly it was melted down, and using his power to keep the ice solid.

The fight shifted once more once the fog was being blown away by the wing beats of Dragon Girl. The wings generated wind strong enough to buffet the area like a helicopter would, and visibility was restored, everyone having a clear idea again of where everyone was. The two clones’ attention was now on the bigger, scalier Dragon in the ruins of the hotel, who blasted 01 first with a freeze breath that completely encased half of the hotel garden along with him, while Dragon Girl’s remaining breath strafed 04, who used his powers to good effect to only get his arm frozen as opposed to being turned into a popsicle. Deimos was now welcomed to the sight of an entire hotel garden turned into a winter wonderland.

“ROOOOAAAAR!” Dragon Girl let out a triumphant roar afterward.

((286))

Deimos let on as much as he could, he didn’t care about the frozen wall ahead of him, he bore through it in no time. The longer the ray was sustained, the stronger it was. It shatters through the ice, only to continue for another split second until Deimos couldn’t physically hold it anymore and it crackled out.

The cold further slowed the dragon, his mind felt like it had rust on it. However, he was coherent enough to smell the blood from 01’s ears. He’d at least done something useful here to show for his broken shoulder that was currently leaking a steady stream of blood onto the ice beneath him.

He couldn’t breathe his shoulder and ribs hurt so bad. He shifts his weight to his good front leg, drawing in a cold and shuddering breath as he tries to forget it. The ear splitting roar rumbled the earth, pulling his attention straight to June. She really was a dragon then. The same aura of fear that drove man away, only enticed Deimos on. He rights himself, trying to put a bit of weight on his bad leg, only for it to give out immediately, however he figured out he wasn’t incredibly slow on three legs.

Deimos looks up to see 04 with his arm encased in ice and 01 basically immobilized by ice. Last thing he wanted was both of them to get free at the same time, so he had to try to take out one, and he knew 01 was hard to kill. He seizes his chance as he rushes forward and goes for a merciless bite to 04’s midsection. No more playing around, Deimos was willing to kill a clone for this, and 04 was both the closest and seemed like the easiest target. June had given him an opportunity, therefore he had to take it.

Deimos would find 04 much easier prey, try as he might with desperate water blasts to ward of the dragon but was bitten in half for his trouble. Blood and salt water spilled from him, as his uniform doubled as a reverse diving suit, and Deimos would taste fish. Up close one could see that 04 was actually some manner of fish-person, and the shock of being bitten in half was too much. The water attacks ceased as his suit was drained of life giving sea water. Ultimately he bled out before he could drown. Three down.

Indeed, it did not take long for the mighty 01 to break free from his icy prison.

“Two of you giant lizards now??” 01 launched himself at Dragon Girl, a meaty fist aimed at her neck. This was what June didn’t want- she was too big to fight him effectively, and he was quick enough to avoid a bite. Once he delivered a potent neck chop to June though, enough to knock her aside, 01 stopped his attack to realize his error.

June had the benefit of denticular scales, a rare mutation in aquatic dragons. June took a moment to maneuver around, smashing up more of the hotel, to see 01’s striking hand had shredded itself on her harder-than-diamond scales. Outnumbered and outmatched, 01 used that super flying speed to just fly up. With his ear messed up it was more a parabolic path, but he was out of sight in seconds.

June knew she couldn’t catch someone that flew that fast. Having expended her breath weapon, she went to the busted water line to refill, but acknowledged Deimos’s presence as well. Now the problem with Dragon June was that she wasn’t quite all there mentally- she behaved like an aggressive, territorial animal than fully sentient. She drank deeply from the busted fountain and kept her eyes on Deimos, emitting a low growl, crudely communicating he better not make any rash moves.

((337))

Deimos spits out a piece of the fish-man onto the ground, sitting back on his haunches for a moment and hunching to get a good breath. This was the first time Deimos had ever been truly hurt like this, was this the bullshit superheros had to put up with? Why would anyone ever willingly subject themselves to this.

However just as his mind had bucked the thought of altruism, the thought of his parents popped into his head. Apparently that was why.

He perks as Dragon Girl stalks past, straight to the water meter. Looking back to the direction 01 had just bounded off to, he experimentally stretches his wing, happy to find that the muscles attached to it were unscathed. It was just his shoulder and the front of his chest. He could still fly, but he doubted he wanted to follow 01 on his own. That man was no just a mustache, he hit like a truck.

This new Dragon Girl was interesting to him. She didn’t behave as he did, rather more primal. He attempted to reach out with his mind again, just to see if it would work. Two fuzzy pictures again, one a flashback of 01 delivering the bone cracking blow, and the other an image of Deimos and Dragon Girl flying above this neighborhood they were going to free,bathing clones in a flury of ice and fire.

One a recap, one a question. Could she, or would she, fly? He lays down on the ice, front leg reclined out to the side as he offers a low trilling followed by more draconic.

“Drakka?” He asks, voice deep and yet sounding more like a breath through serrated teeth than through a human’s throat.

Part of him hoped Dragon Girl could speak Draconic, that would make communication much easier. However, he knew his chances were slim. Only reason he knew draconic was due to the fact he'd hatched from an egg and had a dragonelle talking to him the entire time. It took his parents a while to catch on that these words weren't incoherent baby babbling of a hatchling, but a cohesive language.

She snapped at him, snarling and baring teeth, but not really attacking. Intimidating him like a feral cat with trust issues. She attempts to determine if he was hostile, if he’d let him place his claw on his snout, a primitive language of submission. She continued to do so even as she was being communicated to.

Now, if Dragon Girl received the mind picture at a fuzzy 240p, Dragon June got it at a clear 1080p. While the mission of defending democracy and overthrowing evil was lost on her, the thought of crushing one’s enemies and laying waste to the city appealed to her destructive instinct.

It was the first time Dragon June interacted with her race’s language, And her vestigial dragon brain finally began to wake up to some semblance of sentience. “Da… Daa… raa..” If Demios was a baby, June was the retarded baby, sadly. But it was enough to calm her down. She stopped booping the snoot, and strolled into the hotel to find some decent cover, and turned back into Dragon Girl, her costume intelligently rebuilding her incognito suit.

June re-emerged rubbing her head like a hangover. “…Ugh… three down…” She had enough presence of mind to tally who they’d put down.

((211))

This was an incredibly strange experience here. The body language June was showing was as primitive as a smile was to a human being. He couldn’t help but give the lightest tilt of his head before realizing this meant Dragon Girl had sort of receded a bit.

Either way, he was accepting of the claws upon his snout, although he did wince as it got close to the point where his eye had almost gotten taken out. Luckily that was just a bruise and some missing dragonscale. Deep down he prayed she didn’t dig those claws in, she was HUGE compared to him and those claws would so doubt be enough to punch through his scales like butter.

His attention raises as she attempts to speak. It was clumsy, like hatchling-speak. “Dra-ka.” He repeats, just to try to help her along. Deimos was not at all upset that she didn’t speak draconic. Quite the opposite actually, he was overjoyed that he’d met someone with the capability of potentially learning it. Deimos perks, his posture raising as she turns away from him, as if asking where she was going without words.

Deimos manages to piece together she must be moving to change back, so he reluctantly decided to follow suit for the luxury of communication. Magical energy swells like black ink before washing away to a very battered Deimos. His brow just above his eye had a bit of a bruise forming on it, however his collar bone looked the worse as a piece of his clavicle just pushed up the skin.

The half dragon took a few gasping breaths through his teeth realizing this hurt much worse as a human, but at least it wasn’t weight bearing anymore.

“Ah, god that hurts.” He groans, choosing to lay back on the eyes, staring into the sky. All he needed was a little rest. “I don’t think fighting him as a dragon was a great call on my end. Too fast.” Deimos reflected, severely regretting life choices.

“You alright? He hit you pretty hard too.” Sitting upright, he blinks groggily. Realizing this meant his body temperature was still too low, he begrudgingly gets up, testing his footing on the ice. “Thankyou for.. Um… well… this.” Deimos motions to the icy hellscape around him, as well as the ice casing still holding 04’s severed arm. “Anyway. I still have use of my hands. Perhaps switch to spellcasting next time we see him? I can cast spells faster than I can breathe fire.” The reassuring smile suggested he didn’t feel like a hot poker had been jammed through his collar, however the cringing behind it screamed pure agony as he tested his hands for functionality.

They still worked, but it hurt.

Dragon Girl too was still massaging her neck, where 01 had delivered a meaty chop. “I guess the Chinese weren’t kidding when they said they had a war god on their side. Or at least his clone.” Dragon creaked her neck, then sprayed it with some topical ointment from her little first aid kit.

June sighed. “He’ll need to heal from his injuries, so we have this chance to get the Jagarata supers on our side. We could seriously get hurt if he’s getting 02.” June conjectured, knowing that another combat expert would make the fight difficult to call.

Once it was determined no more super destruction was taking place, Ranah tentatively made her way to the Crowne Rose. She eyed the destruction wrought here, stunned for a few moments before she could speak. “Guys, I have good news I found the prison and …oh…” She saw the dead body of 05. “…Is this Deep Defender? From Shanghai? I hear he was a creep.” She said, recognizing the fish face.

“You have no idea.” June rolled her eyes. This one was one clone she had no hard feelings for. “Is everyone safe?” she shifted the topic, to keep everyone on their toes.

“Yes. I stashed them in the slums where the military won’t go, and there’s a hero who lives there who’ll make sure nothing happens to them. Oh! I found out where your bad friends are being held. It’s three blocks down, no superpowered staff. You want to go get them now?”

June looked at Deimos. A normal prison didn't seem that hard. “…You want to take this? If its just guns, I can get them out without breaking a sweat.”

((290))